Nostalgia
by Ameyoke
Summary: Eira is 13. She's going to her mother's alma matter, Al-Revis Academy. Who's her mother? ANNA! But just who is Eira, really? Pairings: AnnaxReicher, TonyxLene, NikexGunnar, PhiloxVayne, PamelaxRoxis, YunxEt, EnnaxUlrika, LilliaxRoze.
1. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 1

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 1**

"Anna! You need to marry soon, for the Lemouri family! You're already 28 for God's sake!"

"I haven't found anyone I WANT to marry." Grown Anna Lemouri, looked at her father. She wore a black, short-sleeved shirt with a yellow plaid skirt and black velvet-feeling boots. She sat in seiza position to him, her long aqua hair in a ponytail reaching her waist.

"That's it! I'm setting up an arranged marriage!" He huffed.

"I refuse, father!" She said sternly. Anna had just broken up with her first boyfriend, Farion. He had left her for another girl, a mary-sue named Katie. In hopes she wouldn't get hurt, he cheated on her with Katie and didn't say anything. She was so pissed, she didn't want to have to deal with this crap.

"Anna!"

"Now, dear, you know that a girl has her dreams…" Anna's beautiful mother, Celeste cooed to her husband. "Anna. You know you can't be picky. We already let you go to Al-Revis."

"That really helped me, even if it was 15 years ago."

"Why don't you make the terms for a husband, hm?" Her mother suggested.

"Dear…!" The father, Soiichirou protested.

"Fine then. If there is a man who can defeat me, then I will marry him." She knew this was impossible. After all, the only men who could stand up to her were Vayne, who was married to Philomele with a child on the way, Gunnar, who was married to Nike with 5 children, and Roxis, who was engaged to Pamela. This was perfect. She was pissed off from her break-up with her boyfriend. She needed to get violent.

"Oh?" The father smirked. "Then tomorrow we shall battle, you vs. your husband!"

"Bring it on!"

"Hmph! This is nothing!" Anna laughed, taking a sip of energy drink.

"That was number 175, dear." Celeste told her beloved.

"Tch…! That was the last one…!"

"Well, there is one left, but he hasn't arrived to check in…" Celeste flipped through the sign-up sheet.

"Sorry~ I'm late." A care-free voice of a man called out. "Can I still try out?" A man with long, silver hair in a ponytail, dressed in a mercenary's garb walked up to Anna.

"Of course! Please, go ahead!" Soiichiro clapped his hands.

"I see…" He kneeled on one knee, took Anna's hand and kissed it. "A pleasure to see you, my Princess." Anna blushed furiously.

"Wh-What are you doing?" She smacked his hand away.

"Sorry, sorry, I just thought I'd give you the proper greeting." He laughed. She couldn't tell if he was actually laughing, or that was just his personality, to take everything in stride.

"Get ready…!" The father stood ready, and Anna put her hand on her blade (a wooden one, of course). Suddenly, however, she felt a ping in her head.

"Hey… Before we begin… Have we… Met before?" Her eyes were misty as she tried to remember something, deep inside of her mind.

"Oh, nice pick-up line!" He clapped. "Although I prefer flirting with you, it's a good thing-" He dashed to her in one second and pointed his wooden sword to her throat as he held her back with one arm, as if to tango. "To have affections for one's betrothed."

"Eh… Eh? …EHHHHHH?" She realized that she was back on the planet. "FATHER! HE CHEATED!"

"What are you saying Anna? The gong rang!" Was she really so spaced out the she didn't notice something like that? The man looked her deep in the eyes, eyes that swirled like the sky on a sunny, windy day.

"I got the princess." He smirked and held one of her hands as he kissed her on the lips.

"Mmph…!" She tried to get out of the lip-lock, muffled by his mouth. Finally, she got free. "…I'LL KILL YOU…" Anna lurked up to him. "…MY PRECIOUS FIRST KISS…!" She started raging after him with her wooden sword, and he dodged each one, laughing without a care.

"What, at your age?" He laughed.

"SHUT UP! I'M A PURE, INNOCENT MAIDEN!"

"Dear, what's our son-in-law's name?" The father asked. Celeste looked at the list.

"It says here, his name is… Rewrich Wallach, age 29." She looked at their bickering, "Don't they make a cute couple?" The mother blushed and held her hand to her cheek.

"Just so you know!" Anna told him as he came into their two-person room (originally Anna's room, changed into a couples suite by the houses' maids), "We're NOT getting married."

"But Anna, you said whoever could beat you-"

"That was just to get my father off my back! And please don't call me so casually!" She scolded him.

"You're still hoping to get back together with your old boyfriend?"

"How did you-?"

"I heard all about it."

"OK, but you're wrong. I actually want to get revenge on him." She gritted her teeth, "Cheating on me…! I'll never forgive him!"

"Ooh, passive aggressive." He laughed. "But if you were engaged to me, wouldn't that be a good revenge? You'd be all happy without him, getting touchy-feely with your fiancée…" He reached for her shoulder.

"Who's getting touchy-feely?" She slapped his hand away. "And in the first place, why did you come to this competition, anyway?"

"Um, well~" He smiled. "An annoying girl was chasing after me to marry me, and you looked prettier than her, so if I could get her off my tail-"

"What kind of world do you live in?" She rebutted.

"A world where a handsome bachelor is barraged by rabid fangirls?"

"Oh come on."

"Now now, this is fate, Anna… san." He caught himself and smiled.

"Hmph." She looked at him dully from the corner of her eye.

"It's already late, so let's get some sleep. I'm tired from coming here." He pulled off his jacket, where underneath was a white dress shirt with black pants.

"Wh-What are you doing, stupid?" She covered her eyes and tried to hit him.

"Whoa, calm down!" He shielded with a pillow. "I'm not getting naked, this is it." He untied his long, wavy hair and unbuckled his headband. The silver hair with white strokes looked like a beautiful waterfall as it dropped against his back..

"I'm not sleeping with you!" Anna bickered, still in her imagination.

"Of course not. I'll sleep on the couch. You sleep in your bed. That's fine." He tried to get comfortable on the cramped, scratchy sofa.

"Really?" She opened her eyes and looked at him. Maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed…

"But you know…" He lifted his head from the make-shift bed, "You haven't once said my name."

"You never even told me."

"Ah, touché." He laughed. "I'm Rewrich Wallach."

"Sounds weird." Anna rebutted. "Cccch!" She imitated the sounds at the ends of both of his names.

"Right? I never liked it either. You can say it like 'RUR-RICK'. It's easier that way." He smiled, and Anna laughed. "Say my name?"

"…" Anna blushed. "…Rewrich."

"There you go, Anna."

"That doesn't mean you can say mine!"

"Ahaha!" He laughed, and they went to sleep separately.

"Hah!" Anna swung her wooden sword in place, early in the morning. Her pale feet touched the moist ground that squished whenever she moved. She gripped with her toes, feeling the earth beneath her. Anna wore her dojo outfit, like the traditional Japanese archer clothes.

"Ho~ Up so early, huh?" Rewrich passed by, bare-chested with a towel around his neck. "I already finished.

"WH-WH-WHAAAAT?" She blushed from the sight of seeing a man besides her father bare-chested, not to mention her (forced) fiancee's. "And wait, how'd you-?"

"Early bird catches the worm." He snickered. "But don't worry Anna, you can still catch m-" She punched him in the face as he tried to lunge for her.

"REJECTED." He fell down.

"…Hey." Rewrich sat on the ground. "What was so great about that guy?"

"Eh?" She looked at him. "You mean Farion?"

"Yeah,"

"Um…" Anna put her finger to her chin. "He was polite, a gentleman. He was really kind… He never forced me to kiss him."

"Oh~"

"And…" She whispered.

"And what?"

"Nothing!" She stopped herself and put her practice sword back on the rack. "Let's go in for breakfast, Rewrich."

"Oh, you said my name on your own! Anna-"

"Don't get cocky!"


	2. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 2

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 2**

"Anna, you will be sent on a mission representing the dojo today." Her father announced after she wrapped up rice, salmon, furikake and takuan in dried seaweed.

"Understood." She took a bite of her roll that she had made, and the father directed his attention towards the fiancée.

"And Rewrich, you are to accompany her." Anna choked on a grain of rice.

"Whao?!" She said, muffled by her food.

"Anna, eat first, then speak." Celeste murmured.

"Understood, sir. I will protect her with my life."

"Yes, please."

"Father! I am plenty capable!" Anna rebutted after taking a sip of green tea.

"I know. However, now that you are engaged to be married, you will be in more danger than ever before. There are many people who would kill you to try and become a candidate for head."

"Right… Because once you are wed, you will become head of this dojo, along with your husband." Celeste explained.

"Wait… Then wouldn't they aim to kill Rewrich as well?"

"Maybe. But I can hold my own." He smiled to Anna, and she got pissed.

"Ugh! He's so full of himself!" She thought to herself.

* * *

"Don't walk so far away, princess." Rewrich called to her as she walked ahead. She wore her half-arm sleeved long-tailed coat, colored and styled like the one she wore to Al Revis. It was left open, and showed her chest wrapped in bandages as a tubetop. On her hands, she wore black, fingerless biker gloves, and on the top of her lower arm was a golden bangle. Her pants were black jeans, and her shoes were no-tie black tennis shoes.

"You might attack me." She looked back at him suspiciously."

"Whoa, she really does think I'm a pervert." He said in a quiet voice. "So, where is the client we're supposed to be meeting, and what's the job?"

"We're meeting a well-known information provider in town. Their family has been helping ours' for generations." Anna told him. "Apparently, they found an underground lair, an illegal alchemy lab. It wasn't their job, so they didn't go in, but… I'm worried about what's going on there."

"Wow, what nice people."

"Who said they were nice?" Anna looked at him with eyes, serious and cold.

"Oh, so they aren't sweet-ceneted."

"Their clan, the Hanekawa clan, was originally a brutal assassination family, not caring if their children died during missions… As long as they were paid and got something else out of it, they were fine." She closed her eyes. "My family fought their's for rule of this town nearly a century ago. We won, so they had to follow our terms. They had to give up all assassination professions, and instead, became information-gatherers for our family. However, we have to pay them for that information. Otherwise, they may get violent again."

"So they're not just good citizens, huh."

"No, and most of the Hanekawa hold great hatred towards the Lemouri. We practically exiled them with the pact we made."

"…" Rewrich walked ahead in silence. He now understood the burden that Anna had to take on. As the successor, she now had to take it on all alone. If he was there for her, she wouldn't have to suffer so much…

"It's not just Hanekawa. There are many clans we made pacts with in order for their surrender. Although we intended for peace and sympathy, we also took away their freedom."

* * *

"Excuse me." Anna opened the cloth door and walked inside. The house was a dark, traditional Japanese house.

"Lemouri girl, you've come." The current head of the family, Obaba, handed her a slip of paper. "There indicates the location of the lair. That's all. After your pay, you may leave."

"Yes."

"Wait, Anna!" A girl jumped down from the upper bunks of the house. She was Kilie, age 25.

"Kilie!" Anna said happily. "How's your child, Saffron?" Kilie wore her purple shorts and tank top with fur leg warmers. She wore her hair in a ponytail with a band around her head. They were her outfit for work, and even casual. It was the dress of young Hanekawa girls.

"That's the problem! I need your help." She looked down. "She was coming with us on that mission to find the lair, and… I-it was her first, and she… she got caught! I don't know what to do…"

"That's horrible! I'll look for her while we're there." Anna held her hand. "It'll be OK, Kilie. Don't worry."

"Please find her… She's my family…" Kilie held her hands to her chest.

"Where's your husband?"

"He's looking for her. He's asking for information around the streets, but I'm really worried…"

"I got it."

"The child fell behind, the child dies. That's life."

"Obaba-sama…!!!"

"Those were the old ways of the Hanekawa, were they not? After the pact with the Lemouri, things have changed."

"Things will never change!" The old woman, nearly 100 years old, spat. "I was but a whelp of 10 when the battle occurred, but I shall never forget. The horrid Lemouris who cut our family, one by one… And I'll never forget the taste of Lemouri blood." She grinned. "I will never trust you."

"You don't need to. This is purely business." Anna held it in. "Kilie is a business client. I believe that should suffice."

"…Keh." She took a puff of smoke from her long, pointy cigarette.

"Old bag, you shouldn't be so mean to her. She wasn't the one who made the pact." Rewrich smirked. "And if you ever say another thing like that to my fiancée…" His eyes slanted. "I WILL KILL YOU."

"Ah…!" The old woman coughed and tried to gain her breath. Kilie was silent. People didn't choose to be born into the Hanekawa, after all.

"Rewrich! That's enough!" She said sharply and threw the money to Kilie. "I'll find Saffron, don't worry!"

"…Thank you." Kilie softly smiled, and the pair left the house.

* * *

"Man, that was impressive." Rewrich said ecstatically. "I thought you'd blow."

"To that kind of childish taunt? I don't think so." She talked to him in the carriage they took to the neighboring town, where the lair was said to reside.

"…To be honest, I was about to rip off her head."

"Rewrich…"

"That person, not understanding such a woman as you… I felt insulted that my fiancée was being treated like that." Anna blushed, and looked at him.

"W-We're not getting married!" She pouted.

"Yes, yes." He smiled.

"But…" she paused and smiled, "Thank you… for standing up for me." He looked at her for a moment, baffled.

"…Anytime." He smiled calmly.

* * *

"Ooh, a nice warm bed…" Anna hopped on top. "Although… I wish it were a single room."

"I won't attack you, don't worry." He laughed.

"I wonder…" She rolled over in her bed.

"Mm… I wonder how Farion's doing…"

"I thought you hated him?"

"I-I do! Idiot! I just wonder if that girlfriend's a complete bimbo, or-"

"Anna…" The next thing she knew, Rewrich was on top of her, arching above her. He held her hands to the pillow.

"Wha-?! You see! You are…!!!"

"Do you love me?"

"O-Of course I don't…! You just come in my life so suddenly…"

"Then will you love me if I do this?" He put his lips next to her ear and kissed softly down her neck.

"Uh…!" She flinched.

"Or this?" He gently kissed her on the lips.

"Nn…!" She felt that she wanted- needed- to let go, but… She let him kiss her longer than she expected.

"I love you, Anna." He told her, softly. She gasped with a blush on her face.

"No…!" She thought, "He can't…! The one I love is…! My prince can't be…!"

"I love you so much I can't stop myself… When you talk about another guy, I just…" He continued to whisper in her ear, and kissed her once again.

"S-Stop!!!" She yelled. He looked at her.

"Anna… Do you hate me?"

"Yes! Yes, I do! So get off!" Anna gasped in realization of what she had said. He looked at her with shocked eyes, his mouth slightly open. He let her arms go, and stood up to put his jacket back on.

"Let's get some sleep."

"…A-All right…"

* * *

The next day as they walked to the Leana Canyon, Rewrich walked about 10 meters in front of her, the exact opposite of the previous day.

"Why are you walking so far away?!" Anna called to him.

"You hate me right?" Rewrich said without turning around.

"No, I-"

"Then what? Do you love me?" He looked at her seriously with cold eyes.

"…No…" Anna said quietly, and he turned back again. "But…!" She interjected. "Does that mean we can't be friends?!"

"…" He didn't show his face to her.

"Answer me!"

"…Pft… PAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed and held his stomach.

"Wh-What's so funny?!" She said, completely embarrassed.

"Oh nothing~" He smiled, a tear dripped from his eye. "You're just so cute…!"

"Don't call me cute…!"

"But you are." He walked to her. "That's why I've always liked you." He put his hand on her head.

"Wait…? Always…?"

"Oh… So you forgot…" He sighed.

"Wait, what do you mean by always?!"

"Just leave it! It's not important!" He called from ahead of her and waved his hand.


	3. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 3

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 3**

Inside the cavern, the floors, walls and ceilings were covered in metal. It was a laboratory, after all.

"Guh…! It smells…!"

"Like flesh…" Rewrich covered his nose with his sleeve. He gasped as he saw something. "Anna, cover your eyes!" He told her.

"What…? Ah…!" She looked down the hall and saw at least a hundred corpses lining the floor. "No…! NO!!!" She cowered down to the floor. Every single body was a child's. Rewrich checked out the research desk.

"Classification Blood Scanner…" He read off of a little machine, only about half a foot in size. "I've seen one of these before. It can tell us what specimens are in the facility by a drop of blood and it has a complete database as well. Let's see…" He checked the database option. "Oh God…" He said. "This lab… Has 376 patients in all… All human, all children under 13."

"You have to be kidding…!"

"We should check each body and report to their families. It's the least we can do."

It took hours, but Anna and Rewrich collected every sample of every child that had died and saved it on the database. On each of their profiles now, there was a label that said "deceased". What a horrible word…

"…How many dead bodies?" Anna asked her partner.

"…Do you want to know?"

"…Yes."

"…234."

"Dammit!!!" She slammed the wall. "We couldn't save them…! I wanted to, but I just couldn't!" Anna squeezed her eyes together in frustration.

"Anna, I know. But think. That means there are 142 still alive somewhere. That means there are 142 families waiting for these children to come home." He patted her on the back. "We haven't even seen half of this place. Let's go look around."

"…Yeah."

"Hey, this says specimen containment facility A right, containment facility B left…"

"Then there might be kids alive?!"

"We'll have to find them. How should we do this?"

"I saw a sign earlier that said that there are two buttons that need to be pushed to open the prisons. One's on prison A, one's on prison B. Problem is, they're on the opposite sides of the facility, and they have to be pressed at the same time.

"That's gonna be hard." Rewrich rubbed his head.

"If we keep a synchronized beat, we might be able to do this!" She motioned her arms confidently.

"So, what beat should we do?"

"How about a fourth beat? That way we'll be able to get there fast enough, but we won't get tired."

"Got it, so one-two-one-two, right?"

"All right, so let's get ready…" The two synchronized their feet to the rhythm.

"1, 2, 3, GO!" They started off down the hall. Keeping a perfect beat as they ran, they saw the button for the prison cell.

"I can do this!" She said in rhythm and the two reached towards the button. BAM! They hit it nice and strong. They caught their breath as they worried if they hit it in time. However, all hopes were revived when they heard the gates creak and start to raise.

"Are you here to save us?!" Half of the children left, at least 70, ran to Anna and on the other side, Rewrich.

"Yeah, I'm gonna get you home. I'm Anna Lemouri."

"Anna Lemouri?! Really?! Anna came to save us!" The kids jumped with joy. Their idol, Anna Lemouri had come to save them.

"But listen, it's not over yet. I'm sure pretty soon the alarm will go off and-" Just as she said this, a loud sound went off and the room turned red. "See?" She yelled over the clanging. "We need to get out of here. Stay close behind me and I'll protect you." She took out both of her swords and crossed them.

"Where's my big sister?! Where is she?!"

"I can't find my friend!" These were just some of the cries among the children.

"We can try to find them when we get back to my mansion! Just stay calm and run with me!" She looked back. "And the strong, carry the injured!"

"Right!" They agreed and started picking up their hurt friends on their backs. She ran down the hallway, fighting monsters that attacked them, and soldiers as well.

"I really don't like the feel of killing people…" Anna coughed as she shook off her sword. "Hurry up! Only a little further till the Rendezvous point!" She dashed to the crossroads and saw that Rewrich was not yet there. "Dang, we'll have to wait for him." She said, but then she heard children's screams. A monster had appeared behind the pack of kids. "Oh no…!!" Anna was caught off guard. SLASH. A glowing sword hit the monster and it fell to the ground.

"Sorry sorry, am I late?" Rewrich laughed and the entire pack of kids grouped together, many happy to reunite.

"Thanks, Rewrich! You really saved me."

"You can kiss me later, but we have to get out of here." He held out his hand to pull her up.

"Wait, I need to ask something. Everyone, have you seen a girl named Saffron?!"

"Saffron-chan?! Yes, she was brought to the talent room."

"Talent room?"

"Some kids that pass all the tests they give us get brought there… They say it's because they have talent… But then they never come back." Wait… Were the kids that were slaughtered… All kids who went to the Talent Room…? But Saffron wasn't among the bodies!

"Let's get out of here, then we'll talk!" He pulled out a very long rope. "Everyone, I know this is childish, but all of you, grab on to this stiff rope and close your eyes till we get out. It's not pretty out here." He passed it down the line and they all held on tight. They all ran to the entrance and got to see the outside world for the first time in weeks, maybe months.

"Who are all these-?" Rewrich looked at the lot of Japanese-clothed warriors and many horse-pulled wooden carts.

"I called my father to bring them. We need to send the children back to my mansion." She picked up some of them and plopped them on the carts. "Go go!" Anna waved to them.

"Big sister…?" A girl walked up to her.

"Yes?"

"This is the key for the Talent Room. I was saving it for when I got the chance to save my brother. Please! His name is Takuya!"

"Thank you! We will." She nodded to the little girl and ran back inside.

"Anna, wait up!" Rewrich dashed to where she was.

"OK, the key goes here, and… OK, we're in." She turned the lock and opened the door. Inside were kids in cages, like animals.

"Here, let's get you out, OK?" Anna sliced open the bars with her sword.

"Yay!" The children ran outside to the team.

"Start running towards the entrance and we'll protect you."

"Got it!"

"You think I'd let you get away so easily???" A scrawny voice cackled. "Fools!"

"Who's there?!"

"I am Professor Kel, head professor of this lab." He smirked, his white coat adorned with drips of blood.

"What are you doing with these children?!" She retorted.

"Well, since the mana are constantly decreasing and decreasing, we thought… Why not use humans to turn into manas? We intended the treatment for adults, but for some reason, it only works on children. Well, a small percentage of children. In the end, only one mana-infused child remained from the experiment."

"You mean from the talent room?!"

"Oh yes, that's right."

"Then the children in the hallways…"

"Failures. We thought they might be able to process the experiments, but they failed. Whether it was creating to much blood and having their bodies blown to bits, or in the fighting test when they were chewed to bits by monsters."

"Gr…!!!"

"But not to worry. We now have a single mana under our control. Come on out, Mana of Lightning!"

"No…!" She looked at the mana. It was Saffron. She had a few things different about her, like her hair and blades on her arms, but it was definitely her. "Saffron…!!!"


	4. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 4

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 4**

"Saffron…! I don't want to hurt you!" Those were Anna's words before their battle began. However, determined to put Saffron out of her pain, she was prepared to fight. But something unexpected happened.

"Leave it to me. You don't have to be tough all the time." Rewrich stood in front of her with his sword. "Look at her… She's such a small child, and yet so much power… Power that she can't handle." Saffron was crying, begging to die. …And she got her wish.

"Saffron!" Anna ran to the child and held her in her arms.

"Ms. Anna… Thank you… For stopping me… Tell my mommy and daddy… That I love them…" As the child's eyes closed, Anna screamed. Why couldn't she have done more…?

"Lady Anna? Are you ready?" Anna fixed her light aqua kimono with navy blue designs and walked out to the balcony, her hair in an oriental comb. Today was a royal address for the massacre.

"Everyone," She started, her fiancé by her side, "As you know, we have had a mass murder. Many children have died due to this insanity. That is why, today, I wish to start a new campaign for my clan and those who serve under us. I, along with my fiancé, Rewrich Wallach, shall search out the other labs that have been hinted all over the continent. My people, you have nothing to fear! If we all work together, we can overcome these great sorrows that have come upon us!" All in the crowd cheered in a loud roar, proud of their princess, who had matured so much.

"You did a great job." Rewrich smiled warmly at her, and she returned the gesture. She felt the butterflies from her kimono come into her stomach as her face got warmer.

"Your speech was beautiful… Anna." A man with glasses and white hair smiled at her, with a woman clinging to his side. The girl had short bobbed blonde hair in a red headband, and wore a bright green dress with a white ribbon around the waist.

"Ta… Takumi…" Anna tried to speak. Rewrich glared at the man.

"About us breaking up… I'm sorry it was so blunt… I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"That's a bullshit excuse!" She snarled. "Cheating will always hurt the girl involved! And you, Sadie! You should be ashamed."

"Oh, I'm so sorry… I just…"

"Oh yeah, like you're sorry!" Anna spat, "You knew that he was going out with me, yet you decided, 'Ooh, manmeat! I'm a goodie-two shoes, and I'll never betray the public expectations! That's why AFTER I cheat with Anna's boyfriend, I'll apologize all cute-like and sniffle!'" Rewrich wanted to laugh at her dialogue, but kept it in.

"Anna! Stop it!" Takumi yelled angrily at her. This was the first time. She gasped and stepped back. "It was my decision to cheat with her! I just never told you." Anna turned red and threw her heavy hairpin at him. Good, Rewrich thought. It was ugly anyway.

"Take it back, you bastard! I hate you!" She ran back to the house. Before chasing after her, Rewrich turned back and glared with a death stare at the two.

"Although I'm glad you broke up with her so she's mine…" He flicked his hair. "I won't forgive you for being a weasly little worm like that. You parasite. And you, wench…" He turned his gaze. "Your Mary-sue act isn't fooling me. It was just as Anna said. You're a lying snake." His pupils got small as he made a murderous one-eye look at them. "NEVER COME NEAR HER AGAIN." And they never did.

"Uuuhhhh…!" Anna cried on her futon bed after she had taken off her kimono, and her shorts and white tank top were underneath. Rewrich came in behind her. She faced the other way. "Go away!"

"I scared him away. It's OK."

"I hate him, I hate him!"

"I know. I know. Do you want me to kill him?"

"…No…! But now I realized…! I'm going to say goodbye to him, and the me that I was…! I want to move on…!"

"You don't have to try so hard. Just let it come naturally." He told her softly. "I'll always be behind you." She looked up at him and cried against his chest. He hugged her tight in his arms. How long had it been since she had felt so safe and warm…? She listened to his heartbeat as she felt his warmth against her cheek. A hypnotized, feverish feeling enveloped her as they embraced.

**_When I wiped the clouded window glass, I saw you_**  
**_You had cold eyes, A you that was called me was there*_**

**_Tens of times, hundreds of times, you tricked me, didn't you?_**  
**_I'm going to say goodbye to you already_**

**_I pushed a knife that cannot cut into my chest_**  
**_I screamed, I screamed so many times_**

**_To make sure of my courage_**  
**_As I shivered, I traced the wounds on my heart_**

**_You're straight-forward, and I'm a coward._**  
**_But I am reborn, and I won't be too late_**

As she was in a trance, her pendant dropped to the ground and opened. It started playing a beautiful tune.

"That's…?" Rewrich looked astonished by what he saw.

"Oh, this?" Anna picked it up and held it with love in her hands. "When I was trying to decide to go to Al Revis Academy or not, a travelling boy gave this to me and gave me words of courage."

"No matter what anyone says about your path in life, you have a right to change it! Hold your hand up to the sky and grasp the day!" Those words echoed in her heart.

"This is a music box pendant. They're rare because only a few clans in the entire world know how to make them."

"Singing Hills ~Eolia~…"

"Huh?"

"No…" He smiled softly. "It's nothing."


	5. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 5

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 5**

"Rewrich, you look tired." Anna's mother covered her mouth.

"And we haven't seen you go outside for days. What's wrong?" Her father passed the rice to him.

"Yeah, I'm just working on something right now… It takes a lot of focus…"

"To think that parrots could focus." Anna quipped.

"I have no energy to make a comeback." He yawned darkly.

"Rewrich! Where are you? I KNOW you're here!" A crazed voice knocked at the Lemouri household's gate.

"Oh shi-!" Rewrich jumped up with sudden energy from the breakfast table and dashed to the other side of the house.

"What-? Wait, Rewrich!" Anna yelled after him, but went to the gate and let in the visitor. Today, a beautiful fall day, Anna wore a black shirt with a red tank top over it, the front of her hair tied in the back, and finished with a long black skirt and loafers. "Hello?"

"Ah! Thanks for opening the door!" She rushed past Anna and knocked her down, running to the back of the house. "Rewrich! I missed you!" A faint sound came to Anna's ears as she lifted her self back up. As she ran to where Rewrich was hiding, she found the curly-purple-haired girl snuggling against Rewrich, at which he did not look too happy.

"So~ You had a girlfriend."

"As if. This is my assistant, Sasalina. She's the crazy stalker girl after me."

"Ooooh. So you weren't lying." Anna slumped her shoulders and crossed her arms.

"Rewrich? Who is this…?" He pushed her gently off of him.

"This… Is my fiancée, Anna Lemouri."

Silence.

Silence

Silence.

DROP. You could hear Sasalina's jaw drop from a mile away.

"WHHHHHHAAAAAAAT?" Apparently, Sasalina believed this statement. Anna thought she would be in denial.

"Noisy, noisy…" Rewrich plugged his ears. "YES. THAT'S RIGHT. We're getting married soon." Rewrich smirked, very happy and proud of this fact.

"No-No way…" Sasalina slumped to her knees. Anna realized what he had said after their bickering.

"We're not getting married. It was arranged by our parents. Honestly, if you want this dummy, please." Anna played it cool while laughing it off. She opened an eye to see Rewrich not making a sarcastic remark, but making a dark face downwards.

"Really? Ohhhh, Rewrich, don't try and run from me~"

"…Yeah. Let's go Sasalina. On a date."

"…Have fun." Anna waved her hand. Stupid, stupid! Why couldn't she be more honest…?

That night, she sat at the dinner table with just her, her father and mother. Rewrich was still on his… date… with Sasalina.

"…That girl intends to go on another journey with him, you know." Anna's mother piped in the silence.

"Eh?"

"Well, think about it! They were travelling together all this time, weren't they?"

"And you had to go and say something like that….!" Her father shook his head.

"I-It's not my fault…! You guys decided this, so-!"

"All right. Then let's break off the engagement."

"What…?"

"Shizuka!" Her father retorted.

"That's what you wanted this entire time, isn't it? All right, deal's done. And there are no repercussions."

"But…"

"But what?" She thought about it. If she called off the engagement, then Rewrich would leave. Rewrich wouldn't have her back on the battlefield. Rewrich wouldn't protect her physically and emotionally. He wouldn't be there to smile, to laugh, to live life with her. She felt tears drip down her cheek.

"…Go on." Her mother closed her eyes and smiled. Anna hesitated, but nodded and ran out the door.

"Rewrich, come on! You've gotta come on another adventure with me!" Sasalina wrapped her arms around him. Anna hid behind a wall and listened in. She was too scared to interfere.

"Sasalina…" He pulled her hands off. "Have I ever told you this story? It's about me. I was a boy who didn't know what purpose he had in life. My father was a music box maker, but I didn't want to just give away music boxes and sell them. My grandfather had only made music boxes for my grandmother. I loved that." He smiled sadly. "One day, I got so fed up that I ran away from my problems. I ran to the neighboring village, and I accidentally ran through the most prestigious house in town." Rewrich laughed and sat down on one side of the bench. "I met a girl who couldn't stand up for herself, like me. I acted all cool and said "Reach for your dreams! Raise your hand to the sky and grasp the day!"" Those words…! "All she said was 'thank you', but she had the most beautiful smile. My first love, to think! I had only one music box that I had ever made, and it was a pendant. It played one of my favorite melodies. It was my mother's favorite when she was alive." He smiled. "That day, I told her that we'd meet again."

"I got home, told my dad I quit, was banned from our household, and then a few years later, I found out that the girl I'd met that day was a daughter of royalty. Their family owned the most prestigious dojo in the world! If I were to ever take the princess' hand, then I had to become the perfect prince. I trained, winning tournaments around the world. However… No matter what I did, I never reached a level that could beat a mana. I thirsted for the power to be able to take her in my arms, to call her mine. That's when I took you on as an assistant in the mana-hunt, Sasalina." He looked up at her. "Now I have gained the power I need… But I found out that that wasn't enough. I found out that my affections were more than that. The more I looked at her every day with so many emotions other than the smile I saw on that day, I fell deeply and madly in love with her. Even if she doesn't love me, I wish to stay by her side."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Anna came out and approached him. He looked very surprised to see her at first, but then smiled softly. "I'm your fiancée. Aren't you supposed to tell me everything?"

"So you accept it?" He looked to Sasalina, "Sasalina, please." She blushed red.

"E-Even if you're in love with her now, someday-!" She sniffled and ran away. Rewrich looked back to his fiancée.

"Why didn't you tell me that you made this pendant? Why didn't you tell me you were the boy from that day?"

"Would it have made a difference?"

"Yes-! Because-! The reason I went out with Takumi was because I thought he was you!"

"What…?"

"You look alike! And-And your voices sound the same…"

"Pfft…!"

"Don't laugh! You're the boy I fell in love with that day! You're my music box prince!" He looked at her surprised, and they gazed at each other in silence.

"Haaah…" He sighed and put his head on her shoulder.

"Wha-?"

"I totally thought you hated me."

"…Sorry."

"I'm kidding."

"…Dummy." Rewrich took Anna in his arms and held her tight. "I love you." She told him in a smooth voice.

"I love you, Anna Lemouri. I always have." He whispered in her ear, and she snuggled close to his chest. He softly showered her with kisses. First her forehead, then her cheek, and then, with a smile of consent from Anna, he kissed her gently on the lips.

"Will you marry me?" He pulled a ring out of his pocket, and it played a beautiful tune. This tune was created only for Anna, and no one else.

"An orgel ring…" She gasped.

"It plays 'Hoshiyomi ~Reading the Stars~'. It's a melody I wrote for you."

"I will marry you, Rewrich." She smiled softly, and he placed the ring on her finger. It played the beautiful melody as they kissed deeply under the moonlight.


	6. Anna & Rewrich Chapter 6

**Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 6**

"You may now seal your vows." The Shinto priest told Anna and Rewrich as they finished the wedding ceremony. Anna, clad in a white kimono with her hair down, smiled with a blush on her face as Rewrich in a classic black Hakama, his hair in his usual tie, lifted her white cloth veil and kissed her lovingly. The new heads of the Lemouri clan had been decided, and they were very in love.

"…Are you ready?" Rewrich said quietly on their wedding night. His silver hair dripped upon her bare body like rain, and was a great contrast to her slight pink face. They were in their new room, where the heads lived. That night, all maids and her parents, everyone, had left the house which had now been passed down to the newlyweds. No matter what happened tonight, no one would hear the cries of ecstacy, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Y-Yes." She tried to look him straight in the eyes.

"Are you sure?" He confirmed, his crystal blue eyes shining upon her, "We could always do this another night…"

"No!" She exclaimed, but then calmed. "I… want you to embrace me."

"I couldn't hear you~" He said jokingly.

"I-I-I…"

"Well, then, I'll say it on my side." He slimmed his eyes seductively. "I want to be inside of you. I want to become one with you, heart and body." He kissed her passionatlely, first on the nape of her neck, leaving a mark, and then with his tongue in her mouth.

"Mm…! Pwa…!" She moaned and then breathed quickly to catch her breath between kisses. "I want you to make love to me…!" She said, her face slightly red, and a tear drop coming from her eye.

"I love you." He fell into the bed with her, trying to be gentle, but give her pleasure. She yelped in pain. Between her stop's and no's, her body ached for more. This was love. This was becoming one. This was the moment the two had waited for for so long.

"I'm pregnant!" Anna exclaimed, joyful as she returned from the doctor.

"Really?" He grabbed his wife underneath her arms and lifted her up in the air. "That's great!"

"We're going to become parents!" She giggled, and the couple kissed each other.

"What should we name our very first child?" He held her on his lap. She played with her music box ring, and it started to play.

"…There's this name… I read it in a novel when I was a child. I love it so much…"

"What's the novel about?"

"It's about a girl who tries to pick up the pieces of her memories. But when she finally gets them back, she realizes that her heart would be taken away by a demon."

"That's depressing…" He sarcastically laughed. "Then what happens?"

"Nothing." Anna replied. "The author died before she could produce the rest of the series."

"What's that character's name?"

"Eira." She told her husband. "E-I-R-A."

"That's beautiful… It sounds like a fairy." He agreed with her and hugged her tight. "Let's do it."


	7. Eira Chapter 1

**Eira: Chapter 1**

Vvvvvvvt.

It was that same dream. It was the sound of a TV's static. Eira Lemouri, age 12, woke up to the same morning. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in her traditional Japanese bed, no bed frame, just a thin mattress on the ground.

"Good morning, mother." Eira walked in, dressed in her Al-Revis uniform. She had no emotion on her face.

"It DOES look good on you, Eira!" Anna, dressed in a brown long skirt, white tight blouse, and the music box hairpin that Rewrich made for her, hugged her daughter happily.

"Group hug!" Rewrich glomped his wife and daughter.

"Rewrich, let go!" Anna laughed and moved her daughter to safety. "Now, before we get going…" Anna sat Eira down on the porch. "I want you to remember to always tell people about your condition so they don't misunderstand. And that condition is…?"

"Yes. I fell down the stairs when I was a child, so I have some amnesia and have lost the ability to use emotions. Although I cannot show them anymore, I feel them inside."

"Perfect." Anna hugged her daughter tight in her arms.

Al-Revis. 22 years ago, it had been a floating school of alchemy. When it fell, it became a 1-year university. Now that the mana had returned, Headmaster Zeppel had splurged and refinished the school that had started to float again. The school on the ground was the school for basic academics, like politics, math and lanauage. The flying school, Al-Revis Academy of Alchemy, was for alchemy and combat, but also had the basic classes as well. The major difference was environment, and the price. However, alumni parents of the old school were a big portion of the payers.

"Welcome to Al-Revis Academy." A more confident Zeppel, shaved and well-dressed, greeted the coming students.

"Well, don't you look better." Nike and walked alongside her husband, Gunnar and smiled. "I told you, you look 20 years younger."

"You think?" He laughed softly. Zeppel, now 52, looked like he did when Nike and Gunnar were still just students at Al-Revis. 22 years had passed since their Atelier formed.

"My daughter, Kilie, will be joining us this year." Gunnar looked at her proudly. The teenaged girl looked like a female Gunnar when he was in his prime. She had long bright red hair in a ponytail, uneven cut jeans, and the same black material that Gunnar had worn was tied into her shirt that showed her midriff.

"I'm Kilie Tithel Damm. Nice to meetcha." She made a peace sign from her forehead.

"Oh, Ms. Kilie! I've seen the pictures, but I never expected you to look so much like your father!" Zeppel shook her hands, and felt the slight prick of her talons. "Now this might be rude, but do you have…?" He pointed to his head.

"Oh yeah. I have both human…" She brushed over her human ears, "And beast ears." Suddenly, black cat-looking ears popped up.

"She's half-beastman. All of our children qre." Nike explained. As they grow, they're able to withdraw their ears. They could also file their talons, but…"

"I'm no wimp! Talons are for scratching!" Kilie laughed loudly.

"That's my girl!" Gunnar laughed along with her.

"Like father, like daughter…" Nike shook her head. "Thank goodness that one of my younger daughters takes after me."

"Oh, you mean Kanon? Where is she?"

"I need her to help me at home." Nike explained. "Kilie's here, Bolt's taking an apprenticeship at a neighboring town all day. Gunnar's teaching here, and I've got Teto, Sayuri, and Litoli to take care of. Teto's 6, Sayuri's 4, and Litoli's newborn. It's hard to do on my own, and Kanon's a big help."

"I see." Zeppel smiled, but Kilie looked ominously at her mother.

"We're not late, are we?" A 38-year old woman ran up and leaned over. "Vayne, our Atelier is starting to arrive!"

"I'm here, Philo." Vayne walked up, and twin children held on to each of his hands. One girl, and one boy.

"Hey, Vayne, Philo! It's been too long!" Nike waved and hugged them both. "Ohhh, you two have grown so much since I last saw you!" She rubbed the heads of the twins.

"Thanks, Aunt Nike." Melody, the younger twin smiled. "It's good to see you."

"Messing up hair…!" Jet sounded suffocated as their beloved auntie hugged them.

"Oh, sorry." She laughed.

"Oh, the twins! I see you often helping around Philo's bakery and sometimes Vayne's clinic." Zeppel greeted them.

"My name is Melody Aurelius. It's a pleasure to meet you." She slightly curtsied.

"My name is Jet Aurelius." A blunt introduction from the unkempt boy. His shirt was untucked, and his tie loosely tied.

"Good morning, everyone~" A familiar light voice sounded out.

"N-No way…! P-Pamela?" Zeppel exclaimed. Pamela Ibis had her feet on the ground and was fully alive.

"Hello~" She greeted.

"Greetings." Roxis said quietly, his two children hiding behind him.

"So, you age like a normal human now…?" Zeppel commented.

"That's right. Oh~ Zeppel, you haven't met my children. Come out girls~" The mother beckoned. First, the eldest with violet-blue hair in pigtails popped out and giggled spicily. Second, the younger with blonde-orange hair and glasses looked at the group silently with a quiet smile.

"Introduce yourselves, you two." Roxis coaxed his children to the frontline, facing the eyes of their parents' friends.

"I am the eldest daughter, Mistecia Rozencruz." The eldest sister curtsied. She had a whispy, ditzy voice like her mother. "I am 7 years old. My formal name is long, so people call me "Misty"."

"I am the youngest daughter, and my name is Feitalin Rozencruz. I'm 5 years of age. It's a pleasure to meet you." Her eyes and voice were serious like her father's.

"You can call her "Fate"!" Pamela hugged her daughters. "Roxis's father insisted that they have fancy names that were off of their ancestors, so we decided to make nicknames for them too."

"Well, he never had daughters in the family, let alone a ghost for a daughter-in-law…"

"I'm not a ghost anymore! You brought me back to life with your alchemy!" Pamela insisted.

"That's right… It took 10 years, but I finally did it." Roxis sighed, remembering the trial and error that occurred.

"I can't believe this… Almost everyone is together again." Anna approached with Rewrich.

"Ah-! It's you!" Gunnar pointed his firey pipe at Rewrich, who put on a tired face. He knew this would happen. "YOU'RE THE GUY WHO MARRIED ANNA?"

"This is what you get for not going to the wedding, Gun-chan." Nike scolded him. "Rewrich is a nice guy. Give him a break."

"B-But he…! When Roze and Ulrika were still here, he-!"

"Gunnar-senpai, please don't bring it up." Anna said crossly. "We're all together again. Isn't that enough to make us all happy?"

"I still can't believe it." Philo smiled softly. "Well, Mupe-chan went back to his home planet, so I guess that can't be helped. But we are missing ONE important person…"

"Who?" Vayne asked his wife.

"HOW DARE YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!" A comedy-relief voice cried. A man with crimson hair, a teacher at Al-Revis, and his wife walked up to the gates. "Gunnar! Say your prayers!"

"Tony-senpai! Lene-senpai!" Anna exclaimed. "It's good to see you again."

"Yeah." Lene nodded and held Anna's hands.

"Ooooh~ So your son and daughter are joining Al-Revis this year~ I can't wait to teach them…" Gunnar looked evilly at the red-haired boy and blonde-haired girl. They did not look at him fearfully.

"YOU'RE NOT TOUCHIN' MY KIDS, YOU HEAR ME?" He grabbed them by the hands.

"Aw, calm down, love." Lene held his arm. "Our kids are already 9 and 10 years old. I'm sure they can fend off his attacks." She looked at everyone and introduced her children. "The girl's name is Sana, and the boy's name is Makoto." Sana approached Gunnar and pulled at him.

"Mister… Your cape is all gross. Do you grow mold on it? It's had a long time to grow, after all." The little girl poked at Gunnar. SHING. His face went blue.

"Gun-chan! Gun-chan, hang in there!"

"How dare you insult my father!" Kilie unleashed her huge broad sword.

"KILIE!" Nike cried out, trying to calm down her family.

"…I can see why you need help at home." Philo said as Kilie laughed manically as she faced off against the little boy, Makoto. Gunnar gave a battle cry, and Tony laughed hysterically and praised his daughter for her efforts. Lene scolded Sana lightly for her antics, and Tony for his praising.

"Yeah… It's a hard life…" Nike sighed, but laughed a little in her speech.

"Now that we're done with our squabbles…" Anna cleared her throat. "I'd like to ask everyone and their children for a big favor."

"Like…?" Tony asked, his head hurting from where his wife pounded him.

"This is my child Eira." Anna put her hands on her daughter's shoulder. "She has amnesia, as some of you remember. However, she also has a loss of emotions. This means she can feel it on the inside, but she can't show it on the outside."

"Oh, I remember." Kilie nodded.

"So, if you happen to be in the same Atelier with her, and even if you aren't, please be nice, and guide her along her way."

"You hear that Kilie?" Gunnar shoulder-bumped his daughter.

"Yeah!"

"Even you two, all right? Mistecia, Feitalin." Pamela hugged the two.

"Yup." They agreed.

"OK. Eira, Father and Mother have to leave now. But…" The two hugged their beloved daughter. "We'll come back to visit. You'll do amazing things, I know." Anna grabbed on to her.

"You're an amazing girl, Eira." Her father squeezed her tight. "Don't ever forget that."

"Oh, and Gunnar." Rewrich smiled devilishly at him.

"Huh?" Anna gasped as Rewrich grabbed her arm and started making out with his wife.

"YOU VILLAIN!" Gunnar prepared for battle as Rewrich licked his lips after the kiss.

"Idiot!" Two voices called and bashed their husbands on the head. Nike and Anna looked at each other and laughed.

* * *

Sorry to all you AnnaxRewrich fans like me. The chapters of their love are not going to finish until near the end of this story. Sorry! But to make up for it... Here's a little report!

I wanted to create an entire new generation of Mana Khemia. Mostly the children of the alumni. Let's talk about some creation notes.

Philo

Appearance: I tried to make something that was a bit a bit sexy, but still cute. Well, of course, that design was the one I made for 30-year old or so Philo, so it's a little odd for her age. Well… Vayne may be a doctor, but he also makes miracle medicines (he's not a door-to-door sleazy guy), that if you add it to your diet, your elastin will always stay in place. That's why it looks like many of the characters have not aged. VAYNE'S MIRACLE MEDICINE, BUY IT NOW! OK, but getting back to her appearance. I used a cute skirt, and a see-through blouse. She wears a tank-top underneath. Seeing characters age, by the way, does not make me happy. If they've aged like, 10 years, I'm OK with that. But...

Lene

Appearance: I made Lene have a stylish, not fancy appearance. I wanted her to look like… Um… A tattoo artist? Or those people at Hot Topic? She's a fashion designer, so she doesn't wear dresses or anything, but she has a cool, punk look. She's kind of a bad girl in the first place. I imagine Tony and Lene's love being bad-boy bad-girl devilish love. Like… Tony lying on a couch, and Lene arching over him, close to his face. Or something. Yup.


	8. Eira Chapter 2

**Eira: Chapter 2**

"…And so, I, Zeppel Kriever, and my wife, Isolde, welcome all of you to the reopening of Al-Revis Floating Academy!" Everyone clapped in the audience.

"Now then," Isolde spoke into the microphone, "All students will head to their designated classrooms. Younger groups will head to the Rozencruz Building. Ages 9-14 will head to the Lemouri Building. Finally, Ages 15 to 18 will head to the Vanten Building.

Eira began walking to her building she was assigned. The building that she would take classes at from now on. This building was named after her mother's family because of her big donation to the school's recovery. To add to that, one of the rooms in the building was called the Wallach Room. Coincidently, that was Eira's homeroom.

"Hello everyone!" Melanie-sensei greeted. "Since the Alchemy School has been restored, I have returned after 22 years. Oh, but no one ask my age, OK?" She snickered. She looked only a little more aged than she did when she taught Health Class at Al Revis when she was only 22. "My name is Melanie. It's nice to meet you all. I'm not going to be your homeroom teacher, he's arriving a little bit later. He's introducing his children to their classrooms right now, and also kissing his sweet wife goodbye." Melanie picked up her attendance book and looked through it. "OK, so first thing's first. All students are required to join an Atelier, a workshop."

"Atelier." Eira whispered to herself.

"All atelier are required to have at least 5 members. All atelier that have less than five within the beginning of the second week of school will be dissolved, and the members of the atelier will have to find another atelier. If there are too many members in the existing atelier, the board will combine members of the few atelier without enough people. The max number of people an atelier may have is 10. Now, on to dorm assignments. After you've received it, head straight to your dorms, fix up your room, and get acquainted with your roommate. After that, you're free to roam until curfew. Don't forget to get your meals! This is all up to you." She pointed into the attendance book, "Ibis Girls Dorm, Room 432, Eira Wallach Lemouri."

"Yes." Eira stood up silently as everyone looked at her. After all, her mother was the name of the building.

"Your dorm mate is…" She pondered over the list. "Rika Karakuri."

"Yes, ma'am." A girl dressed in a classic summer uniform stood up. Her long, wavy blonde hair seemed to flow like a waterfall down her back. Her dark opal eyes sparkled with a certain gleam that made the boys drool. "Now, let's go, Ms. Eira." Rika said in the nicest voice ever and extended her hand. Eira nodded softly and reached her hand to someone that little did she know, would be her fated person.

"So, this is our room. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Eira." Rika smiled once again a dazzling smile. Eira ignored the sparkles and nodded.

"Yes."

"…Why haven't you made any emotions for the past hour?" She suddenly made a stern face. "I'm being nice to you. Why are you being such a downer?"

"…" Eira remained silent. She was frozen. She had completely forgotten the words she had rehearsed with her mother that very morning in the presence of this beauty.

"…Whatever. I'm going out." She shook her head and closed the door behind her. Eira took her right wrist and pressed the charm on her bracelet. It began to play a melody her father had written for her.

"…I'm going to do it." She told herself and walked out as well.

"Oh, yes? How can I help you?" Flora, the student affairs attendant asked Eira who had come up to the desk. "Wait… Didn't I see you? Just now?"

"I would… Like to start an Atelier."

"But didn't you just…" The attendant looked down at Eira. "Never mind! Here, just sign this, and your current members."

"I… Don't have anyone yet."

"I see… For a starting Atelier, you must have at least 2 members. I'm sorry…"

"What're you saying?" A teenaged girl walked up to the desk and leaned over to the little girl. "I'm joining!"

"Oh…! Ms. Sarah!" Flora said surprised. "That's very impressive, Ms. Eira, to recruit Ms. Sarah! She's Headmaster Zeppel's niece, after all."

"Sarah?" She said quietly.

"Yup! So~ Atelier Eira, huh?" Sarah signed her name and dotted the one "I" in her last name. "I can't wait to see you tomorrow!" And so Sarah jumped off.

"As you can see, she may be a bit …odd… But she is truly kind." Flora smiled. "I've known her for a few years now."

"I see…"

"She's very smart, except in math. So anything except for that, she's sure to be of help." Flora said kindly. "You really are lucky, Eira-chan. You can go to your Atelier in the Aurelius Workshop building tomorrow. Your room is right here…" Flora pointed to the place on the map and circled it with a gel red pen.

"Yes. Thank you." Eira took a copy of the completed form and map, and started to walk outside.

"…So… Her disability was true… Poor girl."

"I'm back." Eira said as she returned from dinner alone. She hadn't seen Sarah around, so she wasn't able to introduce herself properly.

"WHA-? EIRA?" A low voice called. She tilted her head.

"Rika? Are you taking a shower?"

"Y-YEAH! I JUST FINISHED! NOW GET OUT!"

"Wait, what?"

"JUST DO IT!" Still using a male dialect, the voice commanded.

"Are you not well? Are you stuck?" Eira approached the bathroom.

"DON'T COME IN, STUPID!"

"Why not? We are both-" Stop. Eira froze to try and take in the scene she saw. "…Not girls." There was not the beautiful, long-haired, opal-eyed Rika, but a blonde, spiky-haired 13-year old guy with a white bath towel around his waist (thank God).

"Damn it… You really don't listen, do you…?" He scratched his head. "OK. You're realllllly tired. Just go outside for a sec, and I'm sure you'll feel better. Then this whole bad dream will go away."

"But I am not-"

"YES. YOU. ARE." The strange boy pushed Eira out the door and slammed it shut.

…

Eira merely waited for the "illusion" to go away.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes~ Come in~" A familiar voice called out. It was Rika. She opened the door wearing black plaid flannel pajamas and led her to the facing loveseats and coffee table where they sat down. "What's the matter? You look like you've just seen a-"

"Boy."

"GOD DAMMIT!" She made a crazy gesture like an angry father lifting up the table and throwing it against the wall. "CAN'T YOU JUST FORGET IT?"

"Crossdressing is fine. Don't be embarrassed." Eira emotionlessly raised her thumbs up and looked proud, even without it showing on her face.

"I DON'T CROSSDRESS!"

"Cosplay?"

"Bzzzt!" He sighed. "OK, look." The shemale placed two bottles on the table. They were filled with things that looked like candy.

"Yummy?"

"…You…" He sighed again, starting to lose the energy to react. "Listen. This one…" He lifted up the bottle of little pink candies. "Makes my hair grow. And this one…" He picked up the blue candies in his other hand, popped open the cap and ate one. Suddenly, all that pretty, long beautiful hair turned into the spiky, boy's hair he had before. "Makes my hair go back to normal."

"Isn't that still crossplaying?"

"And now you combine the words. Great." He looked at her dully and started to talk. "You see, my family is weird. My traditional theater mother married into my father's martial arts family. They had me, the eldest, and my younger sister, Mika. Strangely enough, I had girlish looks…" He pointed to his eyes and other features, "And my sister had more manly looks. Because of this, my father trained my sister in martial arts, and my mother forced me to do kabuki… And dress like a girl." He didn't like remembering that. "Now my father and mother want both children on their side. So they made a bet."

"Takehiro!" The mother, who always carried a fan declared. "I want both kids in theatre. They don't need fighting in this time of peace."

"Nonsense! What they DON'T need is theatre, Ririko!"

"Oh really~?" She said with a devil's eye. "Then let's make a bet."

"What kind?" Takahiro smirked.

"If Mika can play the entire year at Al Revis Alchemy Academy as a boy and not be found out by anyone, then both children take theatre. Of course, our son will do the same… As a girl."

"And if neither are found out, they must both fight me in a test of strength! Whichever does the best overall-!"

"That is correct." The mother snickered. "It's a bet."

"Ignoring our opinions, they made us do this. I want to do combat, and Mika wants to become an actress… But neither under our parents." He sighed. "NOW do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Wait, doesn't that mean you lose?" Eira tilted her head.

"Yeah, but…" He kneeled down on the floor. "Please… Please keep it a secret…? I can't afford to lose, not now… Not when I've waited so long for this chance…" He said quietly. Eira leaned over and stroked his head.

"I understand. I apologize for not being able to show my emotions in this situation." She nodded her head. "I fell down the stairs when I was young, and so not only do I have amnesia, I also have lost the ability to show my emotions. Although…" She put her lips against her sleeve and looked down. "I do feel them inside."

"Eira… Isn't that hard? I mean, I can't be myself because I have to dress as a girl, but at least I can convey my words… You can't at all."

"It is. Many people misunderstand me, and won't become my friend. I have no friends except family friends back home."

"…Hey."

"Hm?"

"I'll… Be your friend…" The boy blushed and looked up at her. "My name's Rika when I'm a girl, but call me Riku when we're alone together."

"My name is Eira, leader of Atelier Eira." She looked him straight in the eyes and pierced his heart's barrier. "It's very nice to meet you."

"So… In exchange for keeping my secret… I'll join your Atelier." He smiled. "But also… I'll protect you."

"Protect?"

"From all the people that don't understand you. You're not very good at conveying your feelings, you know?" Riku stood up and shook her hand. "Nice workin' with you."

* * *

Isolde... Who would have known? Well, Zeppel had to change for SOMEONE right? I'll have profiles up for Riku and Eira soon... Hm? Where's Mika...? ...Hahahaha... You'll meet her... And her friends... Soon.


	9. Eira Chapter 3

**Eira: Chapter 3**

"All right kids! Quiet down!" A new teacher called. "Well… You didn't meet me yesterday, but I'm Tony Eisler. I'm your homeroom and alchemy teacher. I'm teaching the you little kids from the Lemouri building every day right before lunch. Make sure you show." He said gruffly.

"Geez… He's mean…" One of the kids said.

"You wanna fight, little kiddy?" He glared.

"N-No sir!"

"Today's introduction to alchemy is before lunch. I'll see you then. Until then, you have some time to set up your workshop. In this academy, you have one class a day, but the assignment usually takes all day. So be prepared." He closed his book. "OK! Get going." Everyone started to stand up, when he snapped his fingers. "Eira! Do you, uh… Need help getting to your Atelier or anything?"

"No thank you, Uncle Tony." Eira shook her head. "I'll see you at Alchemy Class."

"Mr. Tony is your uncle?" Riku asked Eira as they approached their Atelier.

"No. I call all of my parent's friends from Al Revis Uncle and Aunt."

"Ohh~" And so the door opened to their Atelier. It was pretty much set up for them. All they had to do throughout the year was customize it.

"Sorry I'm late!" A familiar voice said as footsteps ran in. "Eira, hey!"

"Who's this?" Riku asked.

"This is one of our other members, Sarah. She signed up before you."

"Oh. I'm Rika. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Sarah Nelkin." She smiled and sat down with them as they started talking about themselves. Suddenly, Sarah started getting quiet and timid.

"What's wrong?" Eira asked as they sipped on soda.

"Oh, nothing!" She waved her hands. "It's just… I'm a little shy when I first meet people." She shook her head. "I'm usually really tomboyish and I speak in slang, and I sometimes am cute and squeaky, but… Right now, I'm just getting the feel of talking to you guys. Sorry… I know I'm weird."

"No, it's fine." Riku as Rika stood up and smiled. "We don't care if you're a bit odd. That's what makes everyone more interesting." He then looked over to Eira. "Like her. She fell down the stairs when she was a kid, so she has amnesia, and can't display any emotions, even though she feels them."

"Ooooh, I thought you were just quiet." Sarah jumped up and leaned over Eira. "Oh well! You're super cute, which makes up for that." Sarah chuckled to herself, "Sorry, I love cute things. I even think krill is cute."

"Krill…?" Riku crossed his arms sarcastically. Suddenly, there was a slam of the Atelier door. As fast as a gecko against a wall, a figure with fluffy yellow hair crawled the walls and jumped in the rafters. In the process, the monkey knocked over items in the atelier and broke some pots, not to mention knocking Riku over very dangerously.

"Ahhh-!" He yelled as he almost fell to the floor in a bad position.

"Rika!" Sarah cried and grabbed him. She held him tightly to her, as if protecting him from something. "…Ah!" She said quietly, as if she had realized something.

"…?" Riku looked up at her.

"KA-NO-N!" A scary female's voice boomed through the hallways. The door once again slammed open and in came a woman who looked like the kid that had just gone into the rafters. "GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

"NO!" The girl of about 13 cried as her mother scolded her with the eyes of a demon. They both had animal ears, but the teenager had no tail. "Kilie's taking class here; Why can't I?" She exclaimed.

"You're too young!"

"Liar! Kids who are 5 years old come here!"

"Geniuses!"

"And 13 year olds come too!"

"KANON, WE'RE GOING HOME!"

"No!" She yelled. "I never get to see Papa, and you just think of me as your babysitter!"

"N-No I don't!" Nike rebutted. Two more pairs of footsteps clomped down the hallway.

"Kilie, Gun-chan, talk some sense into her!" Nike cried for help.

"…Kilie, I leave it to you." Gunnar patted his eldest on the shoulder.

"Mm."

"Hey, um…" Nike walked quickly over to where Eira and her group were. "I'm sorry about this… My daughter's not enrolled in Al Revis and she still came here, so I'm trying to get her back. I'm sorry about the damage. Sorry, Eira-chan."

"Please don't fight!" Sarah put her arm in front of Eira and Riku. "You shouldn't be doing this!"

"…Right." Nike nodded slowly.

"Oh Kanon~~~" Kilie called out.

"Eep!"

"Guess who this is~? It's your lovely, elder sister!" Suddenly, Kilie jumped up into the rafters, keeping herself levitated by pushing her feet against right angle corner of the celling.

"N-No, Kilie Ane, don't hurt me…!" She cried.

"Kanon!" She hugged her sister, and smashed her to the floor, at least 8 feet below.

"Guh…!"

"JESUS CHRIST!" Sarah called out in shock. "What's your problem? She's going to die?"

"No, this is how they usually are." Gunnar laughed.

"Crap, man!" Finally, Sarah's boyish side had come out.

"Now, give up, Kanon." Nike leaned down to where Kanon was being sat on by Kilie.

"No!" She started to get tears in her eyes. "I want to be with Papa…! I'm not a babysitter…!" Kilie stood up and held Kanon with one arm.

"…Mom." Kilie said seriously. "She has to pay back her debt for breaking all of the stuff in this Atelier, you know." She said, obviously acting. "So let her be in this Atelier."

"Kilie Ane…" Kanon looked up amazed at her sister. Oh dear, now it looked like Nike might cry.

"…Do what you want!" She yelled. "But don't come back!" Nike ran off.

"Nike!" Gunnar called for his wife and ran after her. Kilie patted Kanon on the head and jogged out of the Atelier.

"…Ah!" Kanon gasped. "Eira!" She hugged her "cousin" tightly and smiled. "It's been so long!"

"True, Kanon. It's good to see you. You seem to get along with Kilie just as much as usual." She hugged Kanon back.

"…Yeah." She said quietly, and looked around. "Sheesh, I really did screw this place up! I'll clean! But first…" She turned to Sarah and Riku. "I'm Kanon Damm! It's nice to meet you! I'll be in this workshop from now on."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rika." Riku smiled.

"C-C-"

"Hm?" Kanon looked at Sarah.

"C-Can I pet your ears…?"

"Um… Sure…?" Kanon tilted her head, and Sarah approached the fluffy entity delicately. She petted the little ears, soft as velvet.

"…Howaaaaaah~~~" Sarah had pink sparkles around her as she petted the ears. "Heaven~~~"

"Sorry about her… She loves cute things." Riku apologized for their upperclassman. 4 members. 1 to go to reach the minimum, and a week to do it.

* * *

Here's Kilie's character note!

Kilie

Personality: She was originally intended to be a kind, loving sister. Lady-like, gentle. However, I've already got Kanon, who is the spitting image of her mother, Nike. I needed someone who took after her father. So, I took Kilie and made her personality do a 360! She's tomboyish, low-pitch voice, rough, crazy. It's like… If you had a girl-version of Gunnar. No joke. Kanon and Kilie have a cat-dog relationship. Kilie's form of love is, well… Sitting on her and giving her orders. Kilie always takes the front lines.

Name Origin: I got her name from a villain, elegant character from the Tales of Symphonia Drama CDs. She was intended to be kind back then, but it moved over to the new character just fine.

Appearance: Like I said, a girl Gunnar. His hair-color, and a spiky ponytail. Her hair reaches down to her waist. Kind of like Yoko's hair from Gurenn Lagan? But no headband. I based part of the clothing off of Kaori Kanzaki's clothes from To Aru Majutsu no Index. However, I changed it enough to make it my own. I really wanted to show Kilie's well-toned body, but still making it covering enough to make it manly.


	10. Eira Chapter 4

**Eira: Chapter 4**

"All right class." Tony said in the middle of the week. "We're finally doing our first assignment. It's also your first exam."

"WHAAAAA?" The entire class exclaimed.

"Don't worry; It's not hard. All it is is to make a simple potion. Not to mention the ingredients are in a really easy area. The lower forest. You're fine." He passed out rubrics and materials for the assignment. "You will have to fight monsters, though. Be careful."

"Yes~" Everyone confirmed and left.

"So… Let's do this better than everyone else!" Sarah exclaimed when they got to the Atelier.

"Whatcha mean by that?" Kanon looked at her.

"Well~ I'm a perfectionist! So I say we find the ingredients, get back here, and do the alchemy key." She recited.

"Alchemy key?" Kanon said cluelessly.

"The roulette that is used to make the timing an item is added to determine the ether level." Eira said quietly.

"Wow. You know your stuff." Rika said in a amazement.

"My mother was an alchemist that graduated from Al-Revis when it was first floating."

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kanon pointed to the door.

"Blue petal, cat grass, pure water…" Sarah checked through the ingredients. "All right! We're all set! Leader, is there anything else you think we need?"

"No. That is good." Eira nodded, and they started walking back.

"And we haven't run into a monster yet…" Rika mumbled, worriedly. Suddenly, Sarah and Eira stopped in the middle of the path.

"What's wrong?" Rika questioned.

"I have a bad feeling in my blood…" Sarah felt a shiver go down her spine, as a cold sweat broke out on her body.

"Dark aura approaching." Eira reported.

"I smell something bad…!"

BANG! A big blob of muck and death fell in their path, right in the middle of the forest's opening.

"Oh shit-!" Sarah cursed. "This must be why the monsters didn't show up before…! This one's too powerful…!"

"We fight." Eira unsheathed the two katana at her waist and stood ready, her feet in a pliet.

"Yeah!" Rika had two daggers ready in her hand, "Bring it on, ya bastard!"

"Rika-chan?" Kanon was surprised by the manly dialect.

"When Rika gets mad, she speaks like a guy." Eira covered up for him, and he sighed for relief. Riku smiled at Eira underneath his feminine guise.

"I'll protect you guys! I'm the upperclassman, after all!" Sarah clicked on her blade tonfas.

"Let's do this, ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Kanon spun in her hands her mother's hammer, prepared for battle. First, Sarah cut her blade tonfas gracefully against the disgusting creature, and it seemed to work. The monster cried in agony. Next, Rika, like a flower petal in the wind, slashed the monster. Before the final blow by Eira, Kanon smashed the gel into a pulp, and it's consistency became last week's jello.

"Now, Eira!" Kanon called. Eira grabbed onto Kanons' hand and used it as a stepstool, jumping up in the air above the huge monster, then slashing her katana in an x formation. They cut through the monster with just their air waves first, then she sliced through it like butter as she descended to the ground.

"Whew…! Man, that one was crazy! But fun!" Kanon laughed.

"Ugh… I didn't know something like that would be here…" Sarah panted. Eira walked over to the remains of the monster and picked up something. It was a red-colored orb-shaped jewel… It sounded like it was calling.

"…This jewel is a fragment of the past of Al-Revis… The heroes of Al-Revis…" Eira could have sworn the jewel started to talk… Suddenly, she felt like she knew what she had to do. She slowly took the jewel and placed it to her chest. With a gentle glow, the jewel pushed inside of her body.

"Eira?" Rika ran over as she saw what she was doing. "Eira!" Eira had collapsed into Rika's arms, her beautiful midnight hair tumbled on the ground.

"Eira-chan!" Sarah and Kanon called. But Eira was already asleep. She went into a dream… A dream of the past.


	11. Nike & Gunnar Chapter 1

**WARNING! LEMONS AHEAD, MATEY!**

**Nike & Gunnar: Chapter 1**

"Ughhhh!" A familiar voice sounded. "I'm graduating, and I don't have ONE SINGLE HUBBY to mate with?" Nike Mimi Tithel looked downhearted as she walked with Gunnar around the town where they got off the bus. They had nowhere to go as alchemists. They decided to travel together until they found something (or in Nike's case, SOMEOENE) to do. Suddenly, Nike gasped. "W-Wait, what if I'm-? What if the guys noticed I was a virgin?" She yelled at the top of her lungs, and the people around her looked at her with their mouths gaped. "Gun-chan!"

"Hm…"

"I need training!" She decided on the spot. "Gun-chan!" Nike turned towards him with a blush on her face. "Please-! Be my sex partner!" Gunnar, as an anime-styled game character, would usually have a look of astonishment, embarrassment and pure horror on his face. However, Gunnar was different from most anime-styled characters. He grinned softly and looked at her with deep eyes.

"No problem."

"E-Eh…? How do you use these…?" Both naked in the bed at Nike's rented house, Nike tried to fiddle with the condoms.

"You don't have to put it on for me, you know."

"No!" She shook her head. "This is training! I mean, some guys might find that sexy. And also, if I don't know how to put a condom on a guy, they'll know I'm inexperienced!" Nike looked up at him. "Gunnar, have you done this before?"

"No. I'm a virgin, the same as you." He said proudly, "But at least I know how to put it on."

"OK, are you ready?" He asked, his body above hers.

"Y-Yeah…! I'm no longer a pure maiden after this…!" She confirmed with him, her body trembling a bit. Gunnar looked down at her naked body. He took his large, manly hand and stroked her feminine curvy waist, then moved over the lower part of her stomach. "Kya…!" She whimpered softly, a red, feverish blush on her face.

"Now are you ready?" He smirked at her.

"Yes…!" She looked up at him like an animal, Her body emitted the fragrance that she wanted to mate. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his strong muscles, very toned from all of his workouts.

"I'm not stopping." He licked his lips seductively, and began thrusting himself into her.

"Ah…!" She yelped. "Ah! Ah! Ahhh…! Stop…! Gun-ch-! Ahh…!" As if a hot plasma had entered her throat, it became hard to breathe. Nike felt like she was suffocating, but… It felt so good…! "No…! More…! More…!" She begged to him, and he fell on top of her. Gunnar kissed her breast gently, and then her breast bone, and then, finally, her lips, giving her a deep, adult kiss. She was surprised at first, but then kept doing it with him. Everything felt so amazing…! After doing it for so long, each taking a turn at the physical labor, they both became tired. Nike fell asleep with her cheek against Gunnar's chest, and he placed his arm far stretched out in the Queen sized bed.

And so this ritual continued on for at least a month. Every night when each got back from their part time jobs, they ate dinner, washed up, and then they went to the bed for their pleasure. Every night it got better and better. Nike didn't leave Gunnar to please her all the time… She had some other "methods" to please him now.

Gunnar started smoking an herbal alchemic cigarette in the afterglow. These cigarretes weren't bad for you at all, however; they were said to increase your magical power immensely. The problem with them which made almost nobody smoke them was that they're herbal flavor was crazily strong (some people had actually knocked out on the first smoke). For Gunnar however, this was no feat.

"Hey, Nike." He sat up in the bed against the headboard, while Nike lay down on the bed on her belly with her hands on the pillow under her chin.

"Hm?"

"Shouldn't you be going to find a mating partner soon?" He asked. Nike felt a sting in her chest all of a sudden.

"Y-Yeah."

"I mean, you've gotten pretty good at this."

"What time was this now…?"

"About the 53rd or so." He puffed out a smoke ring, and Nike closed her eyes.

"Oh…" She said quietly. "I was so lost in the moment that I lost count."

"Here, Gun-chan." On an outing for fun together, Nike placed an earring up to his ear.

"What's this?" Gunnar asked with curiosity.

"Can't you tell? It's an earring. They look kind of like needles. I like them. They don't stand out too much, and they're cool-looking." She passed him one as she grabbed the receipt for her purchase. "See? You wear yours on your right ear, and I'll wear mine on my left."

"What's it for?" He fastened the gold earring to his ear where his silver stud had once been.

"As… Thanks." Nike quickly turned around in her navy blue top with loose sleeves and jean shorts.. "You're training me, and paying half the rent to stay at the house. Not to mention you're always company at meal time, or shopping, or movies, or… Anything!" She smiled.

"But you know, Nike…" He paused and took his hand to jingle the earring on her left ear, at which she blushed at little at his touch. "We look like we have a couple look going." Once again, her heart stung.

"D-Don't be stupid!" She laughed off his assumption. "It's like those lockets for teenage girls. You know? One person has "friends" and one has "forever"…" She said, although she didn't sound exactly confident in her answer.

"Nike." He said her name, and she turned around. "Thanks." Nike blushed at Gunnar's kind smile and started walking in front of him.

"Why…?" She exclaimed in her head. "How? How did I fall in love with him? We were only supposed to be sex partners, that was it…" Suddenly, her stomach began to ache. "I-I feel sick, Gun-chan…" She gurgled her words. "I'm gonna head home first."

"Do you need me to bring you?"

"Nono! It's fine! I'm good." And so she power walked home.

* * *

Why Sarah? Why is there so much lemon in this? ...Because Nike and Gunnar are those kind of people. Nike is the kind of person who would do anything to get her hubbys, and Gunnar is crazy and tries anything.


	12. Nike & Gunnar Chapter 2

**Nike & Gunnar: Chapter 2**

"Bluuueeegh!" Nike vomited into the toilet. "Maybe that sushi we ate last night was bad…" She rubbed her tummy. However, something felt off. "I'd better go see the doctor for some meds…"

"Two months." The doctor announced.

"Wait, what?" She tried to clarify. "Two months till the food poisoning goes away?"

"No, silly." The female doctor giggled softly. "You're pregnant! Congratulations!" It felt as if a stake had stabbed into her heart. She couldn't. No! This wasn't the deal. They were training partners, a baby wasn't the deal at all!

"No way!" She stood up and argued. "B-But we…! We used condoms, every single time…!"

"Hm, yes, and that WAS smart. However, condoms are 99% effective. Not 100%. That means, one time, that one percent came up."

"No way…" Nike covered her faced, now stressed with a major decision.

"Ms. Tithel, you have a choice in the matter. You could keep the child, or abort it. However, I can only do this within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. That means you have 15 weeks left. However, I would hope you don't wait too long."

"What's wrong?" Gunnar took off his shirt, getting ready for their evening session. "You not feeling well?" She noticed that he was still wearing the earring.

"…Sorry… I can't do this anymore."

"What?"

"…I'm… Pregnant." She told him. The celling fan was the only sound that reverberated throught the room.

"…I see." He sat on the bed beside her.

"B-But it's OK!" She smiled. "I'll abort the baby! I'm really sorry for causing you trouble…!" She tried to stand up, but the shirtless Gunnar hugged her tight and pulled her onto the bed. He held Nike tight to his chest.

"Do you really want to do that?"

"…No."

"And why is that?" He looked at her in her eyes.

"BECAUSE I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU!" She yelled, and tears started dripping from her eyes. "That child was made with my love for you…! I don't want it to die…!"

"That's what I was waiting to hear." He stroked her cheek and smiled.

"Huh…?"

"Do you REALLY think a God like me would sleep with a girl I didn't love?" He chuckled.

"Gun-chan…!" She kissed him on his lips. "I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry I didn't notice your feelings…!"

"Nike…" He kissed her back and covered her face with them. "Let's get married."

"…Yeah. Let's." And so, without their usual evening routine, the just fell asleep together in each other's arms. However, they looked even happier than usual.

"Push! Push!" The female doctor from before instructed.

"Ah…!"

"Nike! Push like you mean it!" Gunnar tried to drill her through the motions of giving birth.

"Agggh, shut up!" Nike screamed, and then little cries were heard.

"Whoa…" He looked at the child that had just come from his wife. The doctor went to go wash the child.

"I did it…" She smiled to Gunnar, and he held her hand. Each of them had a wedding ring on their finger. "Our child."

"It's a girl." The doctor brought back the child, now sleeping. She handed the bundled child to Nike.

"Look, she's got your hair." Nike commented. On top of the baby girl's head was a tuft of flaming red hair.

"She's got your ears." He pointed to the little beast ears.

"Half beastmen have the ability to retract their ears later on. They have human ears hidden. She'll pass for a normal human later on in life if she hides the ears." The doctor told them.

"So she has both of our ears." Gunnar laughed. "She's beautiful… I still can't believe that I made a child with you. She came from us… It's amazing…" He looked astonished and happy. Nike saw the tears starting to well in his eyes.

"Yeah… It's amazing." She agreed. "So for a name… I want something strong, but pretty."

"Hm… What about Kilie?"

"Kilie?"

"Yeah. It was the name of a famous villain long ago in another land!" He said proudly by his thought.

"Why not a hero…?"

"Foolish! That's too normal!"

"Well, putting the villain thing aside…" She looked at her child and held her to her chest. "I like the name. Kilie…"

"Kilie Damm." He smiled. "Perfect."

"So… On to the next kid?" Nike grinned up flirtatiously at her husband.

"Bring it on." Gunnar hugged her, ready for action.

* * *

Yeah, it was short. I didn't need to make it any longer. Their love is everlasting~~~ Well, everyone else's is too, but... Well, they realized their love early on, and started having a lot of babies! Have you been keeping track how many kids they have? Well... There's...

Kilie

Bolt

Kanon

Teto

Sayuri

Moegi

Or something like that. Even I can't keep them straight!


	13. Eira Chapter 5

**Eira Chapter 5**

"…ra! Eira!" A voice called in the distance. Eira's eyes fluttered quietly open. She was lying down in Rika's arms.

"…Rika." She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"What was that gem stone just now? How did it-?"

"Calm down, Rika… chan." For some reason, Sarah stopped in her speech. "She's fine. More than that, she looks better than ever."

"That's true!" Kanon looked her close in the face. "She looks more bright somehow… Even without emotions."

"Haaaahh… Haaaahh…" A teenaged girl with two long red pigtails panted as if she were just punched in the stomach. "…It hurts…!"

"Are you OK?" A calm, black-haired boy approached her.

"Y-Yeah… I mean, no, but-"

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Without much emotion he asked.

"It won't help…" She choked. The boy pulled her arm. "NO…!" She slapped away his hand. "Ah…!"

"Wait… You're…"

* * *

Back at the atelier, Eira and the others started making their potion in the cauldron. Sarah, who had been some alchemy training taught them how. She taught them about the alchemic circle, quality, and when to add ingredients. In a little bowl placed above the cauldron of hot water, Riku tossed in the petals, water and leaves. When Kanon made the fire the right temperature, Eira crushed the ingredients with a pestle, and then stirred them with a spoon.

"Done!" Kanon held up the bottle of their potion. This potion wasn't to be drunk. It was a salve to be put on wounds.

"Great! Then let's go show it to Toni-sensei." Riku smiled. As he did, however, Sarah approached him and sniffed her nose. "…W-What is it, senpai?"

"…Can I talk with you, please?" Kanon had already run out of the room to find her sister and boast about her accomplishment. She got over the trauma quite fast. Eira, not having anywhere to go, sat down on the Atelier's step leading to the lounge area.

"Hm? What is it?" Sarah sniffed her nose one more time at the confused Riku.

"There's no mistaking it…" Sarah looked deeply at his eyes. Suddenly, she pointed her finger, and said cooly, "YOU'RE A GUY."

"WH-WH-WHA-"

"Oh, it's fine, if that's your hobby, I won't tell…" Sarah twirled around and held her hands behind her back.

"It's not-!" And so, Riku had to tell the whole story. AGAIN. That long story. So, to save time, we'll skip over that.

"Hm~" Sarah slumped her shoulders and thought. "Well, that makes sense."

"It does?" Riku asked dully.

"Yup." She gave a thumbs-up. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me." And so Sarah skipped off to go grab Kanon. In the silent room, only Riku and Eira remained.

"…Eira." Riku scratched his head and looked at her. "What happened back in the forest?"

"I don't know." Eira shook her head softly. "It was weird, but when I touched this orb," She held out the orange-colored orb in her hand. "It gave me some kind of memories of people named Nike and Gunnar. Kind of embarrassing memories."

"Wait, Gunnar? Nike?" Riku cocked his head. "Aren't those Kanon's parents?"

"Yeah." Eira nodded. "But why would their memories be in this?" The orb swirled warmly.

"…" Riku looked at the mysterious, glass orb. He had no idea either.

"OK, looks good." Toni took a good look at the potion. "A."

"Wow, Sarah, you're awesome!" Kanon cheered.

"I'm a perfectionist." She humphed proudly.

"Maybe you guys can take these two in." Toni sighed. "Hey, you two. Get in here." And so, a teenaged girl with red hair wearing a grey shirt with a white collar and a teenaged guy with a grey-black sweater and hair the same color walked in.

"Hello." The girl waved kindly. Now feeling better, she smiled. "My name is Alicia Edonis."

"…Nathan Syckle." He said quietly, not caring.

"I found these two not knowing what workshop to go to. I figured Eira could handle them." Toni smirked. "Right, squirt?"

"Yes, Uncle Toni." Eira nodded affirmatively. Nathan looked at Eira with a shocked look. Before she could see, he made a grimace on his face.

"Eira-chan, huh? You're so cute~" Alicia hugged Eira to her chest and snuggled against her. "I've always wanted siblings. Especially a little sister." Alicia smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Eira." But still, Nate looked deeply at Eira. Eira softly hugged Alicia back.

"…Nice to meet you."

* * *

"Hey, so we did pretty well, huh?" Riku, in a womanly manner talked with his Atelier-mates.

"Not yet!" Sarah munched on a cookie. "We can keep this up!"

"Here's for a good year!" Kanon lifted her cup filled with sparkling Muscat juice. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everybody raised their glasses as well. With a dull face, Nate sipped his juice. Alicia peeked over to him.

"Hey, Nate." She smiled to him. "This atelier doesn't seem all so bad, huh?" She was right. Everyone had smiles and were having a good time. Once more, Nate took a sip of juice, but then looked to Eira who was talking about something with Riku. The cross-dresser was jabbing back at something she said.

"…Yeah." He smirked. "It doesn't seem bad at all. This gonna be an interesting year."

* * *

"I'm your weapon item alchemy teacher, Miranda Cruz." And that was all they got out of their teacher. Eira sat alone in her alchemy class. Sarah was taking higher-level alchemy classes, after all. She took it with the other teenagers. Starting the lesson, they learned all about plain, basic bombs. Eira flipped through the aged pages that smelled like an old library. The slightly yellowed pages felt like silk on Eira's slim fingers. The words were made with printed ink. Eira admired how perfect the letters were. After all, she lived in an old-fashioned oriental house. Everything was done by hand.

"Your assignment tonight is to make a bomb with a quality of zero. If you can make it that low…"

"But Miranda-sensei! Why would we need to get it that low?" A girl with long bright yellow hair raised her hand and asked. "Like, what would the effects be?"

"…Could someone answer?" Miranda looked around the room and then spotted a hand. "Mikado-kun." A boy with brown hair wearing the classic Al-Revis uniform stood up.

"Yes, sensei." He nodded, and all the girls swooned. "When an item has a significantly low ether level, the effects change. For example, a bomb with high quality might just burn, while a low-quality one might poison."

"Correct, Mikado-kun." Miranda nodded, and once again, the girls swooned.

"Mik ado-kun is so cool!" One of them squealed.

"Quiet." Miranda tapped her desk. "After class, come and grab two healing potions as a hand-out."

"Why?"

"So you don't get killed out there." She said without a change in emotion. The bell went off, and Miranda nodded. "Class dismissed."

"So guys, I was thinking to go shopping for a bra at the little clothes store at the edge of campus." The girl who had asked the question earlier chatted with her friends as she sat on her desk. As she did, Eira remembered something her mother had told her.

"You should try and be assertive! Talk to people. They might let you in their circle." And so Eira tried.

"Why would you need a bra? You don't have any boobs yet." SNAP. What should have been a funny joke with emotion became a cruel insult with that aloof face.

"What did you say?" The yellow-haired girl's face went bright red. "Who the heck do you think you are, jumping into the conversation?"

"Yeah!" Another girl snarled. "Callie's got a lot more style than you, shortie!" The girl named Callie tugged at Eira's Al-Revis coat, which was quite big on her.

"How old are you, 9?" Callie laughed. Just then, their was a big slamming sound near the hallway.

"WHAT THE CRAP DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU LITTLE SNOTS, HUUUUH?" Eira's upperclassman, Sarah, came stomping in.

"Senpai, we didn't do anything!" One of the girls rebutted. "This girl called Callie flat-chested!"

"Flat-chested…?" Sarah looked down at Eira, then to Callie, then to Eira again. "Ohhhh, I get it."

"What do you get, senpai?"

"Eira was trying to make a joke. Weren't you?"

"Yes." Eira nodded.

"Yeah right! She said it with a straight face!"

"This girl can't show her emotions on her face. It's a disability." Sarah glared. "Or are you going to bully a girl with a disability?"

"Kh...!" The girls around Callie gritted their teeth. "C'mon Callie, let's go!"

"Wait, you!" Callie jumped in front of Eira and pointed her finger. The fire of passion was burning in her eyes. "You can show emotion, I know you can! I challenge you! If I can get you to smile by tomorrow's lunch, then you have to apologize!"

"Callie?" The girls said in confusion.

"It's a challenge!" Callie stood in front of her, still pointing her finger. Eira nodded.

"OK."

"Hey, Eira?" Sarah jabbed.

"Mission start!" Callie put her finger in the shape of a gun and then blew it like she had just shot a bullet. The game had already begun.

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys! Long time no see! This chapter was partly written, but I never had any time to finish. And now I do! If you go to .com, you can find a lot of character portraits for the characters. Have fun, and let's continue this story!


	14. Eira Chapter 6

**Eira Chapter 6**

"Hello Eira~" Callie came jumping in at lunch time, the first since the challenge started. From there, she had exactly one day left to make Eira laugh.

"So, why did the snail wear an S on it's back?"

"I don't know." Riku put his elbow on the table and sighed.

"I wasn't asking you, Rika-san." Callie retorted to Riku in his dress and turned to Eira. "You don't know?"

"No."

"So that the other snails could say, 'Look at that S car go!'" She smiled brightly. "Get it? Es-car-got! Like snails!" Riku put his hand over his mouth and tried to contain a little laugh.

"Lame." He laughed.

"Exactly the point!" She looked over at Eira, who only had started to eat lunch. "You're not laughing?"

"Listen, Eira can't laugh. Didn't Sarah-senpai tell you that yesterday?"

"It's a lie! There's no way that's possible!" Callie shook her head and ran off. "Just you wait!"

After this, Callie tried every joke imaginable. From childish, to intelligent, from knock-knock to word-play, she tried it all. But still, Eira did not laugh. But hey, I guess that's pretty obvious.

"God… Is everything I'm doing for nothing…?" Callie fell on her knees in the sunset-filled pavement as she had told her latest joke to Eira. Eira leaned down and looked her in the eyes.

"They were funny." Eira told her calmly. "I'm sorry I can't laugh. And I'm sorry about what I said in the classroom earlier. I didn't mean it." And then Callie saw it. This was the spot where Eira's smile was supposed to shine. In real life, it didn't, but in her mind, Callie somehow knew. It was strange, like telepathy, but she somehow knew that Eira was smiling.

That night in her double room, Callie sat on her bed. Her room mate hadn't come to the academy yet. It was strange, but Callie just had to wait for that second bed to be filled.

"Callie, hey, we're coming in~" One of the groupies Callie was talking to before called as the group of the three of them came barging in.

"Why did you all just come in?"

"Duh~ We're gonna talk here. One of our room mates is such a freak… Honestly, I wish we had gotten a room just with us." The girl with bobbed hair complained as she pulled out a magazine.

"No no no, I think they should just block beast men from the academy. Anywhere, actually." The girl with pigtails cackled. Callie turned her head away. She knew that those were horrible things to say. But she didn't want to mess up her chances of getting into their atelier.

"So like, there's these other guys, you know?" The third with the long hair applied some make up. Why would you put on make up at night?

"Oh, you mean the twins?" The bob-hair confirmed. "Yeah. Talk about creepy. They're always together. I heard that they're fighting to get a room together."

"Ewww…" The long-hair made a face. "And they're boy and girl right? Gross."

"Hey, but Callie." The pigtail girl looked to her. "You ARE joining our atelier, right? After all, we're in the room Lene Kier used." That's right. Callie's idol, master alchemy fashion designer Lene Kier had used that Atelier. Lene wanted to use the same room she had. That's why she had to bear with these girls' attitudes… But she wavered. She remembered Eira talking to her.

"And that girl Eira? We've gotta get her back."

"No." Callie stopped them. "She already apologized, and she's… She's not that bad. Let's just leave her alone, OK?"

"What are you talking about, Callie? You're way too modest."

"I'm kinda tired guys, let's just go to bed…" And so, the girls left. Callie flopped down on her bed and sighed. Would she really want to be in their atelier all year…?

In the Al-Revis teacher's office, Tony worked on grading papers from the older students. It was a short response on "What kind of alchemy do you like the best?" He picked up the first one,

_Sarah N._

_I want to be the kind of alchemist who can make a lot of fun stuff! Especially when that stuff is either pretty or yummy. I just like alchemy in general._

A very, very broad category. He would have to help narrow down her favorite by the end of the year. Next…

_Alicia H._

_ I like alchemy that makes medicine. Especially medicine for such races as monsters that can make them feel well. Kind-hearted monsters do exist, after all._

Well, she was right about that. But would she want to just make medicine for monsters all her life? It wasn't a big business. Next…

_Nathan C._

_ …Weapons. That's all._

"WHAT THE CRAP?" Tony slammed the paper down on the desk and stretched his cheeks while placing his hands on his face. "11 years of being a teacher, and I have never seen such a bad essay…" Now in his late 30's, Tony wasn't up for this kind of stupidity. That's when suddenly, his cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?" He answered when he flipped it open.

"Hey, honey~" A familiar voice called. He smirked.

"Lene. How's work?"

"Geez, shouldn't you ask about ME first?" She pouted.

"Well, you're doing stuff for that contest right now, right?"

At Lene's clothes boutique, "Leto", Lene Kier leaned deeply back in her swivel chair after-hours. Lene was entering a contest that could get her great recognition if she won. It was a wedding dress contest. But no matter how many times she sketched the design, it never looked right. It never looked like that dress…

"Yeah, it's going good! I just wanted to hear your voice!" She faked her distress over the phone.

"Oh, really?" Tony twirled a pen at his desk. "Well, I've got some papers to grade. It's good hearing you."

"…Yeah." She smiled. "See you." Click. The phone went to dial tone, but Tony still held it softly to his ear.

"Liar." He leaned his head back in his chair and sighed.

Eira Chapter _

It was lunch time. The deadline for the smile contest.

"Eira!" Callie jumped up from her desk. However, Eira was nowhere to be found.

"You're Callie-chan, right?" Alicia walked into the alchemy classroom. Callie stood up and blushed slightly. After all, Alicia was a stunning beauty.

"O-Oh, yes. And you're… Alicia-senpai, right?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Well, I was asked to come pick up Eira-chan. Sarah had to do something, so yeah." She nodded. "But did she already leave?" Callie looked around. It was true. She was nowhere to be seen. But then, she realized what had happened.

"Alicia-senpai! Stay here, I'll go get her!" Callie dashed out of the classroom to go and find where Eira was.

Right near the bully girl's atelier (Lene Kier's previous atelier), the girls crowded around Eira.

"You are so darn cheeky!" Bobbed-hair poked at Eira.

"You're just looking for sympathy!" Pigtails put her hand on her hip.

"I need to get back to the classroom. Sarah-senpai is coming to pick me up-"

"Shut up and listen!" Pigtails was about to approach Eira, when someone stopped her. Callie jumped in front of Eira with her hands spread out to shield her.

"Callie? What are you doing?" The pigtail girl exclaimed angrily.

"You can't hurt her! She's…" Callie looked down, a flash of red on her face. "She's my friend!" Eira slightly opened her mouth. This was the best expression of surprise she could make.

"You know that if you get in our way you can't join Lene Kier's atelier!"

"That's not Lene's atelier! She's not there anymore!"

"Well then! I guess you can't see Lene's big secret blueprint we found, still sealed! We're going to open it!" The bobbed-hair sneered.

"AAAAAHHHH!" A scream came from inside the atelier. The other girls looked up.

"What's wrong?" One of them called to the straight-hair.

"Th-The blueprint! I-It's gone!"

"What?" They exclaimed, then pointed to Callie, "You took it, didn't you?"

"No, idiots! I didn't even know it existed!" Callie jabbed back.

"Hey! What are you doing there?" Tony-sensei's voice boomed as he walked towards them. "Are you ganging up on Eira?" He demanded.

"Sensei! They stole the blueprint!"

"Blueprint? What blueprint?" He looked at them strangely.

"Lene Kier's! Duh! Sensei, don't you know who she is?"

"Lene's? That dork left something?"

"Wait, sensei, do you know-" Callie was cut off by…

"Eira!" A familiar voice came panting to where they were.

"Huh? What's wrong, Sarah?" Tony asked the 18-year old.

"Oh, Tony-sensei. Good timing…!" Sarah panted. "GOD DAMN, I HATE RUNNING." After a few more pants, she caught her breath. "I saw your kids… Um… Corrine and Taylor, right?" She picked out their names. "I saw them running into the dark woods with some kind of paper in their hands. That place is really dangerous! 9-year olds should not go there! That place is only open to younger students when they have an upperclassman with them!"

"Paper…?" Tony whispered. "Those idiots!" Tony ran off as fast as he could to the school's gate.

"Tony-sensei! Wait up!" Sarah started after her teacher. Callie grabbed Eira's hand and dragged her along.

"We've gotta help those kids before something bad happens!" Callie yelled to Eira. "But why would they take Lene Kier's blueprint?"

"…Oh. Because those kids are Lene's children." Sarah said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"Eh? Lene is married to Tony-sensei?" Callie exclaimed as they kept running.

"Sarah!" Alicia called as she came out of the hallway with Nate.

"Come on you two! We've gotta go!" Sarah yelled. There in front of them was the combat class's Riku and Kanon.

"Hey! What's up?" Kanon waved happily. Before she could take a breath, however, Sarah grabbed them both and dragged them along.

"Did something happen?" The two screamed as they were brought along on her dash.

"Are you sure we should do this, Corrine?" Taylor asked her, unsure.

"Come on; We had to get it away from those girls. Who knows what they would have done with mom's design." Corrine sat on her sprawled knees in the forest. She opened up the paper and looked at the beautifully designed wedding dress. "I really wanna see mom in a wedding dress. There are no pictures of her in one." Corrine realized something. "Do you think mom and dad aren't married?"

"Stupid. As if. Mom and dad both wear wedding rings, even when working." He remembered that Lene wore her wedding ring over her black fingerless fishnet gloves, while Tony wore his right on his bare hand on his hand with his gold watch.

"Anyway, if we stay out here for a while, we can sneak back into school and then send it to mom." She assured her brother. Honestly, as he heard the creaking on the branches around them, he was indeed scared.

"Kaaaawww!" A great bird's cry screeched.

"Eek…!" Corrine backed up in fear.

"D-Don't worry! I'll protect you!" Taylor stood up, his legs shaking. The monster bird appeared. Around 20 times larger than the children, the bird squawked at it's prey.

"CORRINE! TAYLOR!" Their father's voice rang out. In an instant before the bird smashed it's large, majestic beak, Tony jumped in front of the kids and held them tight in his arms. However, even Al-Revis's great teacher Tony Eisler could stand up to this bird unarmed. With one smash of the beak, Tony and his children were slammed into the rock wall, Tony taking the blow for them.

"Kah…!" Tony spat out blood from the damage. The three fell to the ground.

"Daddy!" Corrine cried for her father, shaking him, trying to get him to come back. "Daddy!"

"Dad, wake up!" Taylor, tears dripping down his cheeks yelled at his dad.

"Tony-sensei!" Callie called in urgency as they ran to where their injured sensei was.

"Guys! Get ready for battle!" Sarah equipped her blade tonfas onto her arms. Nate loaded his gun, Alicia pulled out her whip with a snap, Kanon held her big iron hammer, Riku drew his Arabian sword, and Eira drew her twin katana.

"Wait! I'm helping too!" Callie, as quick as the wind, tied nearly transparent threads onto her 10 fingers and held out her hands.

"All right. Let's go." Eira lifted her sword up to her face and dashed to the monster.

"Haaah!" Callie pulled her threads towards her, making cuts on the bird. Though she was not very strong, her threads did the work for her.

"Caaaaawww!" Finally, after everyone fought together, the bird finally fell. And with it came something familiar.

"What's this?" Callie picked up the green-colored orb in her hands. However, unlike Eira, Callie did not collapse. Eira walked over to Callie and placed her hand out.

"Hm? What?" She asked.

"Please." Eira requested the orb. Callie, realizing this, passed the orb to her hands. BAM! Like a load of bricks, Eira fell to the ground as she held the orb, which now went into her body.

"Not again…!" Riku jumped down and held her in his arms. "…Come back soon."


	15. Tony & Lene Chapter 1

**Tony & Lene: Chapter 1**

It was after graduation. Jobless, Lene Kier and Toni Eisler lived in a small rented house. Well, Lene was not exactly jobless… She had just purchased a moderate store-front in town, Seaport, where they lived. Lene had one dream for her future: To become a fashion designer using the alchemy she learned at school. Now, it was starting to come true, although she didn't have many customers yet.

"I'm home." Lene pulled off her designer-boots and walked into the living room. "So? Find a job?" She asked him.

"It's not any of your business. It's not like you're my girlfriend." He poutily turned to the TV with a blush on his face.

"OK, so you didn't find a job." Lene could read her school partner like a book. A children's book.

"Who cares? So I don't know what I want to do! I'll think of something!"

"Aw, come on, chill." Lene sat down on the sofa next to him and laughed. "This is why you suck at interviews. You get mad off the drop of a hat."

"No, I don't!" He retorted back angrily, but caught himself. Lene giggled. Nothing was boring when she was around him.

"Hey, so you wanna watch a movie tonight? I picked up a new one." Lene held a DVD in her hands. It was titled, "Killing Passion".

"…Isn't that the new horror movie that just came out?" He looked carefully at the box, which was decorated with a naked woman with a demon looming over her.

"What? You scared or something?" Lene grinned softly.

"Who is? Stupid." He fwipped his head away from her eyes and blushed. "I was worried you would be."

"Aw. How sweet." She slipped in the DVD into the player as he spoke.

"Listen to me when I talk!" He yelled at her. Once again, she giggled.

"…Ryou… I don't think I can do this…" A deep woman's voice came from the audio of the TV. On the screen, the man with blonde hair, approached her, both of them being naked in the black sheets.

"I need you, Zakuro… Not just your energy… Your love, your everything…" He kissed her neck, leaving a red imprint.

"Ahn…!" The woman held in her screams of lust. "Ahnnn…!

On the couch, Lene was snuggled up in front of Toni, his arm wrapped in front of her. Although they were not lovers, he found himself always going at Lene's pace.

"Hey, um, like, shouldn't you go over on the other couch now?" Tony averted his eyes. Lene grinned and looked up.

"What? You getting horny?" If this were the movie, Lene would be the devil, and Tony would be the helpless victim.

"Pffft, no!" He brushed it off, not very well though.

"Ooh, I feel something hard against my back~"

"What? But-!"

"Just kidding." Lene said nonchalantly. As soon as he blushed, Lene laughed again.

"I love you." Ryou whispered to his girlfriend. However, like it had been said to her, Lene's body filled with warmth. And then, the movie ended. Lene lifted herself slightly, arching herself just a little over Tony, looking at him in his eyes. Without any words, there was some kind of connection. Passionately, they kissed each other's lips, enveloping them over and over. As they did, Tony's hand stroked through her short, bobbed blonde hair, and Lene placed her hand on his neck. But then, that was it. They fell asleep together on the couch.


	16. Tony & Lene Chapter 2

**Tony & Lene: Chapter 2**

Lene went through her head, trying to find the reason she kissed Tony. That and why Tony kissed HER. But as she had decided on her own, the morning would go on with usual. With one awkward look, it did. Lene headed to work and thought on it. That kiss… It was just in the passion of the movie. It didn't mean that he had feelings for her. At her designing desk, she put her fingers to her face and closed her eyes. It had felt so good…

"Ms. Lene?" Lene's assistant, Teresa looked at her strangely as she held the checking books.

"T-Teresa!" Lene recomposed herself and brushed her hand through her hair quickly. "What's up?"

"…Are you OK?" Teresa tilted her head softly. "You've been acting strangely."

"Oh, it's nothing…" Lene shook her head.

"Oh my God, what's with this design?" Teresa picked it up and gazed deeply at it. "It's amazingly awesome!"

"R-Really?" Wait… Did she draw this? Oh yeah… She was drawing it during her thinking… She must have finished it during that without noticing…

"Yes! If we send this to the sponsors, I'm sure they'll support your line!" A designer wouldn't just make reproductions of their design over and over. That would be far too expensive. That's why the design gets sent to the sponsor, who then approves the draft, and then asks for a second draft, which is sewn by the designer themselves. If that passes inspection, then the sponsor will mass-produce for the designer. In return, the sponsor gets 30% of the profit. However, this is only if it passes both examinations.

"What are you going to name the line? The company's name is Leto, so what's the line?" She looked at what she had drawn. A name popped into her head right away.

"Need You." These were the kinds of brand-names that sold. Stylish, yet simple. And then, as Lene wrote the name in katakana on the sponsor application, she realized something. The first two katakana in the name- The Need- Were the two in Tony's name. NIIDO = DONI = TONI = Tony. She had decided on the name, and also on something else. Since long ago, she had fallen in love with Tony. She had never told him, because she wanted to stay by his side no matter what. Now she had the courage to.

"Teresa." The designer spoke.

"Yes?" Lene looked up at her assistant with a fire in her eyes.

"If this brand passes the sponsor test, I'm going to do something very important. Don't let me forget that." As if she understood completely what Lene was going to do, Teresa nodded her head with a smile. Lene was going to confess her love.


	17. Tony & Lene Chapter 3

**Tony & Lene: Chapter 3**

Lene twirled her ballpoint pen at her desk. There were a few weeks until her design was supposed to come back with a mark on it. A mark of acceptance, or of rejection.

"Lene." A teenaged boy not much younger than Lene with spiky black hair with red highlights held some scissors in his hand. This was Lene's second assistant, Tai (and no, although he works in a designers, he is not gay). While Lene didn't have any new designs for them to sew up for customers, they sewed up the previous designs, the ones that still sold (which was most).

"What's up, Tai?"

"Teresa said there's someone looking to get a job here…" Tai turned around, and his eyes opened wide. The person applying was a cute girl! She had black hair, and a solemn look on her face. Whenever Lene tried looking the girl in the face, she would always turn it away.

"…Name?" Lene asked.

"…Serena."

"Show me how well you can sew by hand." Lene pulled out two sheets of fabric and some needle and thread. Quickly, the girl took the needle, threaded it, and began to sew.

"Whoa…!" Teresa exclaimed. "Fast…!"

"And precise…!" Tai looked down at her in awe.

"All right." Lene patted the girl on the back and took her sewing. "You're hired."

"All right! The designs are done!" Lene had finished coloring the "Need You" designs. She passed them to Serena. "Send those off to the sponsor firm, would you?" Serena gripped them against her chest.

"Yes, ma'am."

It was a week or so later. Pretty soon, the results of the design sponsor were supposed to come in.

"Where's Teresa today?" Lene asked, her legs relaxing on her paper-filled desk.

"Dunno… Vacation? Sick?"

"Hm…" Lene chewed on the end of her pen.

"Lene." A deep, gruff voice came from the doorway of her store. When Lene lifted her legs from her desk, she saw someone who she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Father…!" She stood up. Alongside him was her mother, in her fancy, queen-like dress. "Mother…! What are you doing here…?" This wasn't the reaction of a child happy to see their parents. This was a reaction of anxiety and fear.

"What is the meaning of this?" Her mother pulled a stack of papers out of her side purse. "We told you you couldn't become a designer!"

"How did you-?"

"Serena, thank you for the good work." Serena, with her green shirt, jean vest and shorts walked in, eyes down.

"Serena. You did this?" Lene said seriously, not surprised, but with harsh, wise eyes. Under their weight, Serena's eyes quivered.

"Serena, you…?" Tai yelled, hurt and angry.

"That's beside the point, Lene." Her father interrupted. "Come home for a while. We have something to discuss with you."

"Why should I go?" Lene asked them sternly.

"Teresa is in our possession." He told her.

"You dirty…!" Lene stomped her foot forward. But she knew she had no choice.

"Hey, where's Lene?" Tony walked into her store with his bag slung over his shoulder. Only Serena remained in the shop.

"…It's my fault." Serena shook her head. "I was selfish. I wanted money, so I worked for Lene's parents…! She's with them now…!"

"Lene's… Parents…?" Tony had only slightly heard about them from her.

"They're really strict and demanding…" She sighed back at the academy, sitting on a desk. "That's why I was so glad to get sent here. I can finally live the way I want, even if I'm in school." Looking at the window through the workshop's ceiling, she spread out one of her hands. Then, she looked at Tony and smiled wryly. "See my fingers? They may be soft right now…" She pressed her hand against his as he gave a confused look. "But when I'm at home, they're all calloused. My parents have made me constantly play violin since I could hold one. I mean, I'm really good now, and I don't mind playing, but… Sometimes, I wanted to be a normal girl and play with everyone else. When I couldn't, I started getting in fashion magazines. They were what I did to spread my imagination." She smiled at him. "I'm thinking… About not going home after graduation."

"…Then…" Tony looked at her, a slight blush on his face. "Come live with me. We'll work for our dreams together."

"Ahahaha-" She laughed, putting her hand to her face.

"What's so funny?" Tony said defensively. She took a deep breath.

"Nothing, it's just- So like you." Lene smiled a warm smile and entwined her hand with his. "That sounds awesome."

"I have to go bring her back." Tony clenched his fist. "She belongs here."


	18. Tony & Lene Chapter 4

**Tony & Lene: Chapter 4**

At the house of the Kier's, a grand ball was going on for all of their honored guests. Beautiful women from high-class families circled with their aristocrat partners. Lene was sitting in the chair of honor, a black and yellow dress with a yellow flower in her hair. She had designed this herself. She was the talk of the ball.

"I heard that the miss is announcing her fiancé." One guest chattered.

"Finally! I heard she had started some clothes shop, but finally she's going to settle down. She always was the little rebel." Another laughed. In her seat, she looked blankly and seriously into the crowd.

"Now a very special performance by the our very own Lene Kier to commemorate her engagement of marriage to the Dern son, Finn Dern!" A pompous-looking brown-haired gentleman with glasses stood up and smirked a confident smile. "Also joining her is her master pianist uncle, and a future sister in law back-up violinist!" Lene's uncle looked up at her.

"Someday, I hope my son can play piano alongside you." The early 40's uncle smiled. His 1-year old son was in his mother's arms.

"Luna Dial." Lene announced the title of the piece she was playing and began. It was a gorgeous piece. The passion she played with seemed to shine off the moon outside the large windows itself.

"Now, a dance with her beloved!" The announcer smiled and motioned for Lene to dance.

"I…" She placed her hand to her chest and bit her lip. There was only one person she wanted to dance with.

"I'm the one who will dance with her!" A voice called out. Lene fwipped up her head, looking at who just spoke with such gusto. A red-haired man in his best black suit and his long hair tied in a ponytail reached out his hand. "Lene! Come!" He yelled to her. Tears welled in her eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lene's father yelled. "Guards! Take him away!"

"Tony!" So relieved, she couldn't hold in her tears anymore. The princess jumped down to him, and he caught her in his arms.

"You don't belong here. You belong with me." He hugged her tight. The entire crowd looked at the two in shock and awe. "I won't let you marry off the woman I love!" He yelled to Lene's parents. "I won't let you clip her wings!" The parents looked at them, their faces red with rage and embarrassment.

"Guards! Guards, where are you?" The father called out once again. Finally, the troupe ran into the hall, clanking with heavy armor.

"Aw crap-!" Tony gritted his teeth with a look of surprise on his face. He gripped Lene's hand tight. "Lene! Let's get out of here!" She looked at him, a blank surprised expression. Her face was covered in a blush.

"Y… Yeah!" She nodded and started to run.

"Wait! LENE! I'll tear up your dress design right now!" Her father held the design in his large hands. But she didn't look back. She could make new designs, even if they weren't the same. There was only one man that she loved more than anything in the world…

"Haaah… Haaah…" Tony and Lene panted, leaning over as they reached their house. They leaned over, trying to catch their breath.

"Haha… Hahahahahaha!" Tony Eisler laughed, amazed at the stupid and reckless thing he had just done.

"Tony, why did you do that?" She yelled. He looked up at her seriously. "My parents will never accept you! And- and you'll never be able to find a job in this town now! You don't know the connections they have!" She held her hand her her chest and clenched her fist. "Why…?"

"Don't make me say it again." He conked his head softly against hers as she faced down, tears dripping out of her squinted eyes. "I won't let any other guy have you." He whispered, closing his eyes. "I love you."

"Tony…" She looked up, her eyes still overflowing with tears. He wrapped his arms around her waist and softly kissed her lips. She closed her eyes and let her flower hair clip fall to the ground. "I love you…" She whispered. "I love you." They fell into bed with each other, their bare bodies caressing each other. Over and over, Tony kissed her, and each felt the pain and pleasure mixed together. He repeated the same sentiments to her over and over as she dealt with the pain a woman must during this act of intimacy.

"I love you."

After this, they continued their everyday life. When Lene returned to the studio the next day, she found Serena standing there bowing, with a copy of the design in her hands.

"I wish to keep working under you!" She yelled with determination. "Please!" Lene took the design from her and walked inside the studio without looking at her.

"Come on in." She spoke. "I need 5 needles and thread. Got it?" Serena looked up, amazed.

"Yes!" She smiled. Thanks to everyone's efforts, Lene's designs were accepted by the sponsors, and started selling like hotcakes.

Finding a job was harder for Tony than ever because of what he did that night. However, the two were very happy together. Although they never had an orthodox ceremony with a party or a ceremony, they married each other with only the blessing of themselves.

Ever since the night they shared their first time, Lene and Tony had been trying to bear a child. However, there was no luck. They had been told by a doctor that Lene was most likely infertile, and that she would never give birth to children. Although this made her sad, she loved living with her husband. However, Tony, the man, didn't have a job, and he felt useless. The bad news kept coming. Their alma mater, Al Revis, had fallen from the sky due to the lack of mana in the world. But a new school had been started to make up for it. However, it was low on funds and there were not many teachers.

But there was one piece of good news after 4 years of marriage. Lene had finally gotten pregnant with their first child at age 26. Tony was ecstatic, so excited that he was becoming a father. Finally, 6 months later, Lene gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Corrine, a beautiful girl with red hair like her father.

Once in a while, the parents began to see people come by the window. It wasn't like they couldn't figure it out. Although their daughter had now given birth to a grandchild, they couldn't swallow their pride to come see the child.

Tony began to think. What would his daughter say when she could talk?

"Daddy, what do you do?"

"Oh, I'm not employed." He wanted to be a father his child could look up to. That was when their old teacher Mr. Zeppel had requested that Tony return to become a teacher at Al-Revis. Somehow, he knew that this was the job he had been searching for.

"What? You're going to Al-Revis?" She exclaimed, holding their young child in her arms. He looked down.

"I need to do this, Lene."

"How long will you be gone?" She knew teachers couldn't commute.

"…A few years. After all, the school is just getting back on it's legs." Lene stumbled back.

"Tony…" She sighed. "I got it." You need to do this, right?" She smiled sadly. He hugged her tight.

"Stay with my parents for now. They're on the other side of town. You've met them." He looked at her with a more mature look than ever. "I'll come back. So just wait for me."

"I dunno." She smirked. "What if I meet a hotter guy?"

"Lene!" He took her seriously. He knew his wife was a bit devilish. She might just cheat on him… She giggled like a demon and smirked.

"Well, you'd better get back soon, then." She stuck out her tongue and waved.

4 years after Tony joined Al-Revis, he was finally able to return home. His daughter was 4 years old. How crazy was that? And his beautiful wife… Who he hoped hadn't cheated on him. He looked at the door of his house and thought about knocking, but decided against it. Opening the door quickly, he yelled inside.

"I'm home!" He called. Tap tap tap… Quick footsteps dashed down the stairs. A young girl with a red ponytail and a yellow dress jumped towards Tony.

"Daddy!" She hugged him tight.

"You remember me?" He asked, astonished. She was only half a year old when he left. But she remembered. Although she had only read letters from him, she remembered him.

"Daddy…!" She sniffled, happy to see him. He hugged her. "I missed you…!"

"Yeah…" He patted his daughter on the head. "I missed you guys too."

"Tony…?" Lene walked down the stairs. She looked just as she had when he left. He walked to her and softly embraced her.

"I'm home." She wrapped her arms around her husband.

"Welcome home." She closed her eyes.

His schedule was now changed. He was allowed to come home at all breaks, and also visit every weekend. Also, his family was allowed to visit at any time. So happy by their reunion, they made love for the first time in four years.

"You didn't cheat on me, did you…?" Tony asked, unsure, wrapping his arm around her, her naked chest against his.

"Stuuuuupid." She stuck out her tongue. "As if I would. I've been a pure saint while you've been gone. Although lots of guys have been hitting on me…"

"Was it that guy Tai? I'll friggin-"

"Whaaaat? You're a dork. Tai married Teresa 2 years ago, stupid." She told him. "Oh, and Serena married this rich guy. She says she was really in love with him. Apparently, he helps support her family back in her poor village. She left the studio to become a pretty lady." She laughed.

"Lene." He looked at her. She moved her eyes to his. "I love you." They kissed once again.

Because of that night, Lene became pregnant once again. This time, she gave birth to a baby boy, Taylor, at age 30. Taylor and Corrine were 5 years apart. And so, with Tony being there more often, they were a great family. The children took traits from both of their parents. Now that their father was back, they were a happy, energetic family that would never be separated again.


	19. Eira Chapter 7

**Eira Chapter 7**

"Nnn…" Tony sensei woke up after Eira did and looked up at the ceiling. "Ow… What happened to me…?"

"You broke quite a few bones. It'll take at least 5 months for you to heal, you know." Nurse Melanie chuckled..

"To think, you'd be taking care of me again like I was a student…" Tony laughed. He looked around and saw Eira's atelier and Callie standing there. "You guys protected my kids…? Thanks." He sighed. Eira nodded.

"But you protected them the most. They're so precious to you." Eira held her hand to her heart, feeling something inside of her. She understood the feeling that Tony felt because she saw his memories.

Boom! The door opened with a slam, and closed with one.

"Daddy!" Corrine ran up to her father's bed. Taylor ran behind her.

"Dad, we were so worried!" Taylor hugged him.

"Owowowowowow!" He reacted to the pressure being put on him.

"Taylor, you're hurting him, stupid!"

"Nuh-uh! You are, sis!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are-"

"Tony!" The door slammed open again. This time, it was an unexpected surprise. Lene Kier was there, in the flesh.

"Lene…!" He choked. She stomped over to him and started yelling.

"You IDIOT!" She screeched. "You get all beat up, aren't able to work for 5 months…! You could have gotten killed! And it's only the beginning of the school year!" She looked at him angrily. He knew that in truth, she was really worried about him.

"Mommy, don't get mad at daddy!" Corrine tugged on her mother's skirt. "It's our fault! We were going to send this off to you!" Corrine held up the envelope.

"What is-"

"It's your dress design!" Taylor cried. "It was so pretty, we wanted to help you out of your slump!" Lene slowly opened the envelope and remembered.

"Hey… Tony, someday, are you going to get married? And like, have a ceremony?" The school-girl Lene asked as she scribbled something.

"Huh?" He looked up. "Who needs a ceremony if I'm with my girl?" He smirked. Lene laughed softly and folded up the design. She slipped it inside one of the desk drawers of the atelier. She tried to forget the feeling she had for them, because she believed he liked someone else.

"This is…" She whispered, unable to speak anymore. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she clenched her teeth together. "I'm so glad you're safe…!" She hugged her husband on the bed. "I'm so glad all of you are safe!"

"…Sorry… Lene." He stroked her hair lovingly.

"And so, I'm your new alchemy teacher for the semester! You may know me as the fashion designer, Lene Kier, but my name is now Lene Kier Eisler. Lene Eisler." The fashion designer wrote her name up on the board. "Nice to meet you all. Just so you know, just because I'm a fashion designer doesn't mean I'm not good at alchemy. You'd be surprised how much alchemy has to do with my job!" She smiled with a wink.

"W… Wow…! Lene Kier is teaching our class!" Callie shook Eira's shoulders.

"Isn't that wonderful." Her voice shaking, Eira listened to her classmate without a change in her usual no-emotion.

"I wonder how Callie's doing… I hope she found an atelier…" Alicia put her hand on her chin and thought. "Right, Nate?"

"Sure." He wiped his gun clean. Didn't want it getting rusty.

"Hi ho~" Callie waltzed in skipping. "I'm just looking for an atelier, and-" She looked inside and noticed that it was Eira's. "Oh… Maybe I should leave." She started to turn around when she saw Nate shining his gun. It was then when hearts entered her eyes.

"Um… Callie…?" Sarah tilted her head.

"I'M IN." Callie announced. "Um- I mean… It's because you owe me Eira!" She pointed her finger. "You made me lose my atelier! So I'm joining yours!"

"Well, it's nice to have another cute girl in our atelier… Although I feel sorry for Nate. He's the only boy." Alicia said, and Riku sighed. "Something wrong?"

"N-no…" He laughed femininely.

"Well, it's settled then! Nice to meet you!"

**CALLIE HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY!**


End file.
